@robertsaunders
Historian of modern Britain, singer and political nerd. Author of "Yes to Europe! The 1975 Referendum & Seventies Britain". "A jaw-dislocating page turner"(Andrew Marr). Deputy-director @mileendinstitute.bsky.social, Reader @QMHistory
Time is certainly an issue for modern students, most of whom are also doing jobs. But the response isn't "I'd love to, but I don't have time"; it's more like "what a strange question; that's what children do".
As the government's controversial reforms to jury trial come back to the Commons today, here's our recent @mileendinstitute.bsky.social webinar on "Reforming the Jury System".
With the excellent Hannah Quirk, @kaycrosby.bsky.social and @rebeccakhelm.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiep...
A rather gloomy read...,
When I ask students whether they ever read for pleasure, the most common response is a look of total incomprehension, as if I've asked whether they play with dollies or ride a tricycle. Followed by "well, I did when I was a child".
www.generationtechblog.com/p/are-books-...
GB News is both broadcasting + clipping "there is a genocide happening in this island" due to immigration and demographic change, by Thomas Corbett-Dillon, a former digital campaign adviser to Johnson's Conservatives.
Rare footage from yours truly at @mileendinstitute.bsky.social
talking about Winston Churchill, Fulton, the Anglo-American relationship, and the dangerous openness of the moment. Joined by the great @sophgaston.bsky.social and @robertsaunders.bsky.social:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrL4...
Sorry, but this is an absurd demand.
No prime minister can "guarantee" that energy prices won't rise, when war is raging in the Middle East.
They can, however, be more honest with the public about how vulnerable our economy is to world events, and what it will take to become more resilient.
"Midnight at Midday. Symbolical Shadow over London".
A "shroud of darkness" (smog) falls across London on day two of the General Strike in 1926.
"The darkness was so intent it could almost be felt ... Everybody seemed to realise that there was something curiously fitting about this deep darkness".
Shadow Northern Ireland, of all things.
This is the warning on the blood pressure monitor my dad just got.
Exceptional work. Anybody know what the fuck it’s supposed to mean?
Last line is especially ominous
I have no idea what you're talking about, and I don't think you do either. But perhaps you could point me to something I've said or written about Mandelson/McSweeney that would clear things up?
I'm genuinely curious as to what on earth you're talking about here.
Nigel Lawson made an interesting case for this in his memoir. He argued that there was a once-in-a-generation chance to reorient the economy to a lower-tax, more entrepreneurial model that would generate more wealth in the longer term. It's not my instinctive preference, but it's a substantial case.
As a United fan, it's been quite disorientating watching a thoughtful, well-executed transfer-policy over the last 18 months or so. Hadn't seen that in a long time.
I thought this was a joke, but "Ms Badenoch has ranked MPs based on how well they are performing on X" is an actual quote from this article.
Another carry-over from sports reporting? Premier League managers are always "plotting" moves for this player or that.
Crypto donations are a new back door for foreign interference.
Only one Westminster party accepts them: Reform UK.
We must close every loophole and defend our democracy.
youtube.com/shorts/IMlSC...
Disagree on 2-3. And we had a very brave dog when I was a child who was terrified of Darth Vader.
1. Historically good theme-tune/soundtrack;
2. The lightsaber;
3. The Force and the Jedi;
4. Han Solo;
5. Alec Guinness (hated every moment of it, but perfect);
6. Darth Vader;
7. A sequel that took all the best features of the first movie and made them better - ensuring its longevity.
Of all the complaints against Starmer, the most absurd is that it's "weak" to have a Cabinet that doesn't just rubber-stamp what The Leader wants on questions of war & peace.
I'd take Cabinet govt - in which ministers kick the tyres of big decisions - over the kneel-and-obey model of Farage any day
"The same article claims that the Enniskillen bomb killed six children. It didn’t; the youngest victim was 20. It claims that Bobby Sands was elected MP in 1981 with 30.4% of the vote. Given that there were only two candidates, this would have been mathematically impossible. In fact, Sands got 51.2% of the vote. In Grokipedia’s main article on Northern Ireland, it says that “on Bloody Sunday, paratroopers killed 14 civilians… initially depicted by some media as unprovoked, though evidence revealed IRA gunfire and nail bombs”. This is the opposite of the truth. Initially, there were claims by the Army that the victims were violent, but evidence disproved this. Other articles contain dangerous open-mindedness about murder. In an entry on loyalist assassin Michael Stone, it posits that “from a loyalist perspective, Stone’s Milltown raid was hailed as a bold tit-for-tat response to IRA aggression, enhancing his status as an icon of defiance and boosting morale among Protestant extremists” while “republican assessments, however, framed the attack as indiscriminate terrorism against civilians”. It claims that “mainstream reporting, while factually recounting events, occasionally reflects institutional biases favoring narratives of loyalist aggression”."
"At the heart of this technology is a black box into which questions go & out of which answers are given —but we’re not allowed to see what precisely goes on inside".
Sobering piece by @sjamcbride.bsky.social on how Musk's Grokopedia is rewriting knowledge
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/comment/opin...
Photo from the early 1970s of a man on horseback negotiating the Birmingham inner ring road at Holloway Head
I’m searching for the original and/or rights owner of this fabulous picture of Birmingham in the early 1970s. It popped up on my Instagram feed, but I’ve been unable to track it down.
Any leads? I’m really hoping to use it in a book.
(And would much appreciate a RT please)
Yes - the Isobel Thornley Fund makes grants of up to £1,000 to ECRs at any of the University of London Institutions for publication costs, including image rights.
www.london.ac.uk/about/financ...
It is overlooked that the Conservative party is the historic party of coalition in British politics being the sole recurring party in all three peacetime formal Coatiion governments under first past the post since universal suffrage (1918-22, 1931-39, 2010-15) against one informal Lab-Lib pact.
And before that, the Conservatives governed with the Liberal Unionists from 1895 to 1905. That those parties subsequently merged has obscured how far apart they had once been - Joe Chamberlain was hated by many Tories - and how hard Conservatives had to work to accommodate their former opponents.
Every time I try to fill in our department’s new “employability” form, the computer crashes when I select "No” for “would you like to incorporate more employability activities into your module?”
In the second half of 2025, one man accounted for almost 40% of all money donated to political parties in the UK: a crypto-billionaire who lives in Thailand.
Britain desperately needs to rewrite its party funding rules.
observer.co.uk/news/the-sen...
We then had a fascinating response by @sophgaston.bsky.social on the challenges of the UK-US relationship today, followed by some excellent questions from the floor.
If you're not on our mailing list, do sign up. We'd love to see you at our events - all of which are free.
www.qmul.ac.uk/mei/
Magnificent lecture by @patporter76.bsky.social at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social last night, on the 80th anniversary of Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech.
It would have warmed Churchill's heart to see a speaker holding an audience rapt without notes or slides - just sheer rhetorical power!
