Sign in

Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚

@profdavidwhitehead.bsky.social
3.6K followers 3.1K following 959 posts

Retired historian (Ancient Greece) and oboist. Deracinated Nottinghamian. Widower. Grandfather. European. Loves dogs, humour, movies, orchestras, wine.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
My teacher brother has just informed me that his primary school kids now refer to anything shit or old fashioned as "Brexit". Which has made my morning.
362022443
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Anti-Reform @antireform.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Most civil servants work in Justice, Home Office, DWP, HMRC & Defence. Cut 224,000 jobs and you cut: prisons, borders, benefits, pensions, tax collection, the armed forces. Then the specialists who keep rivers clean, stop cyber attacks and contain animal disease ..." via Reform Are Not Your Friends
1814280
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Times - which has v much joined in the rightwing clamour to reduce immigration - now reporting that Mahmood’s “success” has cost the economy £4- to £7Bn. Would they like to now honestly confirm that fewer people = less spending power for all. There’s a high price to pay for this nasty obsession.
Patrick Maguire
Chief Political Commentator Oliver Wright Policy Editor

Falling migration numbers could cost the chancellor as much as £7bn in fiscal headroom as he writes his first budget, The Times has been told.
Government insiders believe that John Healey, who already faced an uphill battle to balance the books next month, is likely to have an even bigger challenge after immigration undershot projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank estimated last month that the success of Shabana
Mahmood's
reforms, which have cut net migration to the low hundreds of thousands, could cost Healey some £4bn.
631164454
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Le Monde in English @english.lemonde.fr · 25/09/2026
Amnesty International calls for ICE to be abolished
lemonde.fr
Amnesty International calls for ICE to be abolished
In a report titled 'We Had Whistles, They Had Guns,' the NGO documents widespread human rights violations committed by ICE in the United States.
388198416365
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Claire #FBPE ☘️ 🍉 🇺🇦 🇪🇺🐝 🦮🇮🇪🇧🇪 💙💚 @fbpech.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... How can this monster even BE at the UN? What about the international arrest warrant??? People across the world want this man arrested!
theguardian.com
Netanyahu calls Israel’s war in Gaza ‘opposite of genocide’ in UN speech
Israeli PM attacks critics and calls New York mayor Zohran Mamdani ‘antisemitic’ in inflammatory address
24014
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Firebird7x3 @firebird7.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Apparently people have also been buying RNLI Xmas cards and sending them to Reform via their free post address .... 😂😂👏👏👏🙏🙏 Reform UK, FREEPOST RTLT-ZXHY-KSDC, 83 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0HW
26441
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Sylvia @sylvia-suffragette.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Who remembers the campaign against paedophilles encouraged by The Sun and how that ended because the thick knuckle draggers didn’t know what a paediatrician was This is going to be so much worse
1015066
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Informative on AI detection software, and ultimately laying bare the unholy bloody mess LLMs have created.
1194
Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚 @profdavidwhitehead.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This:
190
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
He who pays the piper evidently still calls the tune. 🙄
theguardian.com
Burnham drops support for political funding cap aimed at curbing mega-donors
PM said he would set bar at £500k, but trade unions say funding reforms could undermine their ability to donate to Labour
69225
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 23/08/2026
Reform wants power. But the party haemorrhages the people it recruits, then mops up failed Tories to fill the gaps. Much of this goes unreported - even though the pattern is the story. So we've started tracking who's joined, who's left, and who's trying to quit the job they were elected to do.👇
bestforbritain.org
Reform UK Defections & Resignations Tracker - Best for Britain
16277120
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Leigh Booker @leighbooker.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Please sign this Govt petition calling for standalone legislation against the use of catapults on animals. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/77...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Make catapult attacks against animals a standalone criminal offence
Introduce legislation in England to make it a specific, standalone criminal offence to intentionally or recklessly use, discharge or attempt to discharge a catapult or slingshot at or towards any anim...
034
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Devon Dympsy @devondympsy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
This is the phone that I read your posts from...
Image shows an old advert for the Amstrad e-m@iler telephone.
1162
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
A_Nurse__🇮🇪 🇪🇺 @iamanurseiam.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
This should give the electorate of Clacton pause for thought If the electorate of Clacton were capable of thinking Which they aren't Demonstrably
333
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Terence Eden @edent.tel · 14/08/2026
I know you all hate the emergency alert about disposable barbeques. But yesterday I watched a man at our hotel breakfast set fire to a toaster by trying to toast a croissant - despite multiple signs telling him not to. Today he tried again. So, you know, calibrate for the average person.
253401520
Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚 @profdavidwhitehead.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Oh dear LibDems: this is far too smug--quite apart from the environment-threatening AI work.
190
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Ofwat is literally a corrupt joke regulator owned by the Water Companies. Andy Burnham with his massive majority could scrap them all in a single afternoon and stop pretending he can't control the Essential Services and the bills they charge.
22393148
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Terrible argument. Making subscriptions easy to cancel IS a better product and makes the industry look less scammy
1949454
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Chris Smith @ledredman.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
No change Burnham is convinced he has to appease Reform voters exactly the same as Starmer. Burnham has better spin and presentation but there is no change on the policies that really matter.
072
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
The Observer @theobserveruk.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Burnham’s ‘feelgood’ domestic politics takes us further away from Europe A postponed Brussels summit has yet to be rearranged, pro-EU ministers have been shuffled out of the cabinet and the new PM has not so far met any of the bloc’s leaders ✍️ @tombaldwin66.bsky.social bit.ly/3Ul3TUW
bit.ly
Burnham's ‘feelgood' domestic politics takes us further a...
A postponed Brussels summit has yet to be rearranged, pro-EU ministers have been shuffled out of the cabinet and the new PM has not so far met any of the bloc's leaders
6178
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Water companies panic as drought worsens in UK From the new Private Eye, out now.
371543578
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Richard Littler @richardlittler.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I've never used ChatGPT. If I'm absolutely honest, although I've heard of Claude, I'm not 100% sure what it is. I've never knowingly used an #AI tool. To me, this post reads like 'If pre-sliced cheese was suddenly banned, would you even know how to slice cheese manually?'
39594126
Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚 @profdavidwhitehead.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Yes I am Jane, thank you. Am even contemplating a move to SW France, but I need to get my head around all the complications (esp. re banking & tax and, above all, health care).
120
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Jane Mayl🍷n 🍇 @janetrad.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Today I discovered Europe's highest wine estate. Just 3 hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at an incredible 1,230 metres... "elegant, authentic and pure wines , which carry within them the freshness of the mountain peaks and the richness of a still wild place". colrouge.com
4243
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Sir David Attenborough “Things are going to get worse. This is the new extinction. We are in terrible, terrible trouble and the longer we wait to do something about it, the worse it is going to get." www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18...
vox.com
David Attenborough, the voice of Our Planet: “Things are going to get worse”
The voice of some of the most stunning nature documentaries ever made is pessimistic about the future of wildlife on earth.
010458
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
ASH TRAY The First, Popetato of Wülferhampton 📎 @thomasashman64.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Good morning Wülferhampton have a fantastic Friday you fabulous freaks
219414
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Gabby: What was your highlight of the half time show? Wayne Rooney: When it finished. I thought it was crap. 10/10 punditry. No notes.
875249681
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Another Cinna @anothercinna.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Trouble is, she's not "them", she's us. When it comes down to it, what do "we" do about the gulf of information, mis, dis or just plain missing?
021
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Richard Corbett CBE @richardcorbett.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
#bbcbreakfast highlighting the delays and long queues for Brits entering the EU with its new Entry-Exit System (EES). When it was a member of the EU, the UK supported this idea to strengthen its borders, never thinking the Brits would be on the outside. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
New EU system tripling time to get through border, airport boss says
Ryanair has also warned passengers travelling to Europe this summer to prepare for extended waits.
38933
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
I actually pitched a Passport to Pimlico like Brexit comedy along these exact lines a decade ago with a writing partner. In our version they got what they wanted and were screwed.
2138056
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
If Burnham wants to be ahead of the curve when it comes to tech he would throw resources at backing development of cheap AI models that can run offline on a simple laptop rather than backing costly centralised data centres that American tech oligarchs need to stay insanely rich
1122630
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Jonesy Cartoons @jonesycartoons3.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Never mind gods and monsters, this is the biggest challenge in #theodyssey @privateeyenews.bsky.social #cartoon #greekmythology #cinema #film #trafficjam
25320
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Francis Egerton, duke of Bridgewater, opened Britain’s first purpose-built industrial canal on this day 1761 between Manchester and his coal mines at Worsley. Engineered by James Brindley, it halved the coal price in Manchester and sparked canal mania.
18325
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Was she always this mad, or did being a massive failure break her brain? - Liz Truss assembles host of rightwing speakers for UK’s first CPAC event in London www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Liz Truss assembles host of rightwing speakers for UK’s first CPAC event in London
Keynote speakers included US influencer Jack Posobiec as former PM aims to gain influence among British right
6132961
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Madness. Utter madness. Badenoch is quietly turning what used to be a broad church into an even narrower sect.
conservativehome.com
Kemi begins her purge of the wets | Conservative Home
Every functioning party has red lines. Positions which are so central to its identity that abandoning them means abandoning what the party is for. For Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives, net zero and...
98414116
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A bit more of Mahmood’s performative cruel stupidity here Most asylum seekers have no control over where they are housed or for how long or how long it will take the H.O. to make a decision and for appeals to be heard AND, meanwhile, THEY‘RE NOT ALLOWED TO WORK www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Asylum seekers to pay £10,000 towards living costs under new UK law
Means-tested scheme included in immigration and asylum bill condemned by charities for placing tax on refugees
36389131
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
"The idea that people will be able to hold it together and deliver a term of teaching before they vanish off into the horizon, is bizarre, spiteful and naive as well.” The Times HE's punchy account of Exeter University's #BonfireOfTheHumanities & what one academic describes as "existential terror".
timeshighereducation.com
‘I thought we were safe’: shock at Exeter’s humanities ‘gamble’
Leading department being in the firing line shows how changing student preferences are fundamentally reshaping universities
06629
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
A reminder of the story behind the woeful Americanisation and decimation of an iconic British Brand, Cadbury, that was so much more than just a brand of chocolate, but also a proud British project for social improvement. apple.news/AROmsXsYiR2m...
apple.news
The American woman who ripped the heart out of Cadbury — The i Paper
Kate Lister: Irene Rosenfeld oversaw Kraft's hostile takeover of Cadbury – and ordinary Brits have been suffering since
15176106
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Reform Party UK Exposed @reformexposed.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Makerfield has dealt a welcome blow to arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage’s dangerous ambitions observer.co.uk/news/columni...
observer.co.uk
Makerfield has dealt a welcome blow to arch-Brexiteer Nig...
If leaving the European Union has been an unmitigated disaster for the UK, allowing Reform into government would only exacerbate our problems
58328
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Gerry Doyle @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
brexit was the owniest goal that ever own goaled www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
New Referendum Would Flip Brexit Result 10 Years on, Poll Finds
A UK poll shows that a new Brexit referendum would reverse the vote that led to Britain’s departure from the European Union a decade ago.
24110
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Benny @bennydiego.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Don’t mess with Albanians www.reuters.com/world/albani...
082
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Leigh Booker @leighbooker.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
The frightening reality of the modern world
5299
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
In first, California city overwhelmingly votes to permanently ban datacenters. Concerns about negative environmental effects, public health, increasing utility prices, proximity to homes. Data centres don't generate many jobs. Will Britons follow suit?
theguardian.com
In first, California city overwhelmingly votes to permanently ban datacenters
While many US city councils have passed moratoriums, Monterey Park is first where residents have voted on a ban
20535181
Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚 @profdavidwhitehead.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
This:
2113
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Max Colbert @mc00.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
This is a good essay. Worth noting too that there's lots of chatter among far right bods on Restore being the longer term project than Reform, who they hope might open the door but largely think of as grifters to be replaced, and merely a way for many of them to get into politics, later to defect.
64929
Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚 @profdavidwhitehead.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
🙋‍♂️
000
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
Russell England @russellengland.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
🎵 Roses are red Passports are blue Now stand over there In that very long queue 🎵 If only someone had warned us... (The EES was approved in April 2016, before the EU Ref)
6257
Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚 @profdavidwhitehead.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Oh well done Gov. Spanberger!
042
Reposted by Prof David Whitehead MRIA 🇪🇺 🇮🇪 🇫🇷 💙 💚
The London Economic @thelondoneconomic.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
We can only hope that the other 1,400 or so newly elected Reform councillors are a little more clued up than these guys.
thelondoneconomic.com
'We don't understand what an amendment is': Reform plunge council meeting into farce
We can only hope that the other 1,400 or so newly elected Reform councillors are a little more clued up than these guys.
95927