Ed Pybus

A headline from the Daily Record that reads "Glasgow Council to hike tax by 5% and borrow £30m to tackle refugee homelessness" in white writing on a red background superimposed over a photo of Glasgow City Chambers.

Absolutely irresponsible reporting from the Daily Record here - @paulhutcheon.bsky.social I hope you enjoyed the extra clicks that headline got you.

Said it before, and I’ll say it again, but for people like me, this would be transformative - it would stabilise our incomes, and allow us to plough more time into creative work and less into stuff anyone could be doing.

AND it’s a net economic benefit to the country.

We might be a small island, but perhaps our Colonial legacy might have something to do with us being the 6th largest economy?

Afaik the authors don't get paid, the reviewers don't get paid, the editors don't get paid....so I'm not sure where the money goes, but yeah it totally creates a vacuum that disinformation can thrive in.

A screenshot from the Sage website that says "Get full access to this article View all access and purchase options for this article."

Not a particularly originally thought - but I'm getting increasingly frustrated at how so much academic literature is just so inaccessible. And yeah I know that it can usually be found somewhere, but such a waste of time, and then you can't find the paper you want. grrrrr......

Taken from 12 Bytes by Jeanette Winterson.

Of course it was Ada's idea.....

PS. Not too late to tell the government what you think about their proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain - the public consultation is open until 12th Feb.

www.gov.uk/government/c...

Many people have no mental imagery. What’s going on in their brains? People with aphantasia are offering a window into consciousness.

'for an estimated 4% of people, this mental imagery is weak or absent. When researchers ask them to imagine something familiar, they might have a concept of what it is, and words and associations might come to mind, but they describe their mind’s eye as dark or even blank.'

YouTube video by pupchops Black Books - Bernard Avoids Doing His Tax Return

Me = m.youtube.com/watch?v=A10P...

I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!

Building the First Library in Gaza After the Genocide There are moments in history when the creation of a library becomes an act of freedom itself.Here in Gaza, after the genocide, Omar and Ibrahim understood that dreams protected by books do not yield —...

Building the First Library in Gaza After the Genocide chuffed.org/project/firs...

YouTube video by pupchops Black Books - Bernard Avoids Doing His Tax Return

youtu.be/A10PvpbPJZw?...

So that's why they need Greenland...another island....

There's some great new research going on about the politics of heating in the 20thC.
www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regio...

hosting2.northumbria.ac.uk/carbonbodies/

Here ya go. Enjoy Cats vs Bears😂😂😂

I need at least 3 more folk to sign up for my Edinburgh Adult Education Programme archaeology classes at Craigentinny, or the course will be cancelled. If you know anyone who might be interested, please let them know. Thank you!

adulteducationedinburgh.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spyd...

Why not...

"Mather's comment about the 'wide streets and high building all new' implies his sense of anger at urban improvement that disrupted inhabitants' sense of place."

Now stop procrastinating!

If only Afrodeutsche had replaced Radcliff and Maconnie as well...

Initial reactions to the final Budget of Session 6 This blog highlights key messages from the Scottish Government’s 2026-27 Budget and the accompanying Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts.

I don't think SPICe (The Scottish Parliament Information Centre) are on here yet - so here's their Scottish Budget analysis :

spice-spotlight.scot/2026/01/13/i...

to be continued....

Saving penalties • Resolution Foundation Means-tested benefits in Britain are built on the principle that individuals with significant financial resources should use those before turning to the state for help. That’s why wealth – as well as ...

More info on the asset means test in UC here:
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

and in Scotland here :

www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/how-...

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It shows, for example, that a lone parent in Glasgow, with two kids earning £23k PA, who inherits £20k can expect to pay an effective wealth tax of 36.19% after 2 years, whereas a higher income household would pay no tax on this capital.

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A screenshot of a spreadsheet, the text is too small to read individual figures.

which gave me an excuse to spend an afternoon messing around with spreadsheets....

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I wanted to explore the impact the universal credit asset means test has on a household who receives a lump sum payment, or a household that has savings and, due to a change of circumstances, needs to claim universal credit.

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A screen shot of the Bloomberg new website showing just the headline in black text on a white background. The headline reads "UK Wealth Tax to Hit as Many as 200,000 Homes, Official says". The article is written by Tom Rees, it was published January 13th 2026 at 1.29pm and updated at 3.33pm

Headline writers are concerned about higher bills for owners of high value properties, but what about a 35% 'wealth tax' on anyone with £20K of savings? That is the reality for many low income households.
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I like this - I'm trying to get just 4000 word written, and keep getting distracted by spreadsheet formula (and Bluesky). Stickers a definitely the way forward.

yup, a long way from the promise to "reform the Council Tax to make it fairer"...are you doing analysis of the LA funding picture after this budget?

No wealth tax - although of course there is already a virtual wealth tax in Scotland, and the rest of the UK, but only for those on low income tho.... www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/how-...