iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 22h

Yeah but did it have to be The Farm? Among the crapper Madchester acts IMHO.

Reposted by Simon Parker

Jess McCabe @jessmccabe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Burnham wants a new generation of council housing. But what are local authorities building already? Are they anything like ready to step up to that job? The answers can be found in my latest survey of every council in Britain: www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/bigg...

insidehousing.co.uk

Biggest Council House Builders 2026

Which councils built the most homes in Britain last year? Jess McCabe reveals Inside Housing’s exclusive data

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Well I've just discovered a small tax liability that has been following me around since 2022 because HMRC's amazing system hadn't managed to issue a bill. I've filled in at least two self-assessments over this period. Sigh.

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Reposted by Simon Parker

Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Over the summer, I re-ran a few of the questions that we ran previously in 2022, '24 and '25 about how people perceive their local area (polling by @yougov.co.uk).

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

We need to raise more tax, not less, and you can't get it all from people on £100k.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

We starve councils of funding and power for 16 years then say the answer to their problems is even more central government. Really, think tanks, we can be a bit more creative. If Westminster has £9.2bn to nationalise social care, then it also has £9.2bn that could just fund councils properly.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I come from a thousand years of West Country peasantry. If you want to talk about blut and erde I am your absolute boy. And if Englishness was an ethnicity I think I would know about it.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ok I've just read yet another report saying UK pension funds should be heavily incentivised to invest in domestic business and infrastructure. My question is why they don't do this already? The obvious answer is that British business doesn't deliver good enough returns?

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The British invented slavery so they could have the pleasure of abolishing it.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I think we know who the real patriots are here.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Politics atm is either cakeism (you don't have to choose) or scapegoating (a group you don't like - the rich/disabled/immigrants - will pay). They're both dead ends. I'm no fan of fiscal discipline for its own sake, but we really do need to prioritise, and that means choices.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Also as someone who lives in a market town in an otherwise very rural part of Essex... I am confused to learn that the main issue affecting us is regulating blood sports.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The fair funding review penalised places that have kept their council tax low, but stops the losers from raising their tax to compensate. I think that's a mistake. Time to scrap the 5% referendum limit.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The British public has no idea how much coursework there should be in GCSEs. It's like asking them whether they prefer daddy or chips. There is too much polling.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

We shall not rest until every child in Herefordshire has a GCSE in cider.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I have just discovered Danny Bones and my god the far right imagination is both grim and impoverished. Be careful - there are actual Nazis out there.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Forget civilisation or barbarism, the real choice is HR or country.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The general public has no idea about this. I have no idea about this. There is too much polling.

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Reposted by Simon Parker

UCL @ucl.ac.uk · 07/09/2026

We're delighted to see Professor Marc Stears, Director of @uclpolicylab.bsky.social and Pro-Provost for Policy Engagement, appointed as a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister. 🔗 www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/sep/ucl-aca…

Professor Marc Stears, Director, UCL Policy Lab and Pro-Provost for Policy Engagement.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

But what does it mean? LGR cancelled? Scaled back? No one really knows yet? Large parts of the county left in limbo. If district council elections go ahead next year that implies vesting days in 2029 which is cutting it very fine indeed.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Trying to be open-minded on this. Can anyone steelman why approving would be the right call? I don't really see the benefit (yes jobs and tax, but not very much of either in the grand scheme).

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

It is possible to recover from the sort of delirium America has descended into, but it needs tough, uncompromising leadership that insists on liberal democratic norms. Hungary and Poland sort of found it. Maybe the US can too?

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I, too, would simply focus on growth.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Good: 6-9 months of work experience for civil servants. Better: reduce the size of the civil service and give the money to mayors and local authorities instead.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Here's the thing. Taxing the rich more is only stupid if you expect to raise loads of money. There are other, very good, reasons to tax the rich more.

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Reposted by Simon Parker

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Very good thread explaining why Reform's proposals are not the "Dutch model" ands are very unlikely to deliver Dutch results ..

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The only thing that might make this ok is that EVs have already won. They are cheaper over the life cycle and upfront costs are falling all the time. Like solar... it's just better tech.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

It remains the case that most councils are run well by decent people who want to do the right thing.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I'm sceptical about the edgelord explanations here. Rod Liddle was a member of the SWP. Those guys are the most po-faced bunch of gulag guards you will ever meet. No one joins them for the flamboyant edginess.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Well the Bsky pile-on is a new experience for me. Original posts deleted and the less polite blocked. Doesn't seem in the spirit of this place really, but will be more careful next time.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The irony is business rates is that they were designed to be a massive giveaway. The overall take is capped in real terms. In a very real sense it never goes up!

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Is there anything more tiresome than watching former lefties age into reaction?

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

We are finally abandoning our failed experiment with the radical centralisation of political and economic power. I have spent my whole career arguing for this. It's a good day. The question for me is what happens next with councils - more power for mayors goes nowhere if the tier beneath is bust.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

How not to do a national care service... I think more money and empowering #localgov are critical to success, especially if you want to contain cost.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

It might be bigoted, but it might not be.

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Reposted by Simon Parker

John C @badsocialism.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Plenty of time in the schedule for Hugh Gaitskell to come over in the mid-afternoon and shag Ann while Ian's lobster hunting

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Counterpoint: this often happens because the important person is under a lot of pressure to make something change, and all they hear from their teams is that it can't happen.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Drop a crush from your youth.

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Reposted by Simon Parker

Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

A bit from me about how the new northern No 10 is taking shape (and how Whitehall seems to be trying to Manchesterify) as.ft.com/r/a2d0b7a7-3...

as.ft.com

Andy Burnham’s ‘Number 10 North’ is already up and running

Government intends Manchester office to be ‘engine room of devolution and good growth in every postcode’

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The new Department of the PM and Cabinet is genuinely a good development. It will allow much better coordination of whole-of-government strategy. Gold star. But the other thing the centre of government needs to do is reform the civil service. Important that side of the job not ignored.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Hire them all locally you cowards.

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