Mia Gray

Debt Trap Nation -- a very powerful book.

Come and see @kbrickell.bsky.social and Mel Nowicki discuss the book on the 22nd of October (4-6pm)

Dept of Geography, Cambridge

Logo for "The Trials of Democracy: If You're Not at the Table, You're on the Menu." It features a pink and gold shield with two white seahorse-like creatures on either side, all set against a blue background.

If you’re in Cambridge on Oct the 4th/5th, delve into Menagerie Theatre’s public art project on
Democracy – “If You’re Not at the Table, You’re on the Menu” – plays, workshops, art installations, and talks exploring what democracy might mean.

Don’t miss this! A theatre company with a brilliant knack of engaging with the major political and practical issues of the day.

I would think not - they're usually later (late October) and more yellow.

Me too, Hayley.

It's worth an FOI request to the council to see how many pest control officers the city still has.

We have found that pest control is an (often invisible ... at least initially) austerity cut in many cities.

📢ARTIST REQUIRED📢Love working with young people & families? We're seeking an artist/facilitator to lead some workshops & create an art installation, film or animation, on the theme of climate change & the Ice Ages! ❄️ Apply by Mon 6 Oct 🙂@camunivmuseums.bsky.social
ow.ly/llRt50X05P3

A short plug for my local Filipino bakery, Kanto. Absolutely delicious baked goods and coffee. Gorgeous Ube Pandesal – purple yam doughnut (plum jam?).
Always a queue, but worth it if you're in Cambridge.

Our new paper on "Place-based solidarity: Crisis, austerity and the devolution of responsibility"

authors: Coco Huggins and Mia Gray

is now available free online: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Couldn’t agree more. It’s a myth!

And one we cover in our new book ‘Debt Trap Nation’ out with Agenda

www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...

📣 I'M HIRING! Please spread the word 📣

🔎 Looking for a 1-year postdoctoral research associate to support @sensory-lives-prj.bsky.social & UK-wide tour of a playhouse tent communicating neurodivergent children’s experiences of Temporary Accommodation.

🛜 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOL488/p...

Labour geographer (and my PhD student), Jon White, on University Challenge Monday Sept the 8th!

I'm not sure if I'll go to the next AAG conference (2026) in San Francisco ...

but I can say the AAG really needs to update their online "information on digital privacy at the US border" section to reflect the increased risk many geographers will face in entering the US.

@geographers.bsky.social

Our research project on austerity in Liverpool was affected by this. Requested some basic data from Liverpool
through a FOI request and still haven't recieved a reply (the article is now published!).

Ironically, probably a sign of austerity cuts and reduced capacity.

Big increase in the number of UK’s official socioeconomic data series decertified due to data problems.

Incompetence (UK) rather than political machinations (US), but just as troubling for academics and policy makers.

I still miss the ONS's Neighbourhood Statistics.

www.ft.com/content/c046...

Big increase in the number of UK’s official socioeconomic data series decertified due to data problems.

Incompetence (UK) rather than political machinations (US), but just as troubling for academics and policy makers.

I still miss the ONS's Neighbourhood Statistics.

www.ft.com/content/c046...

Coming soon. The Citizen and the Vagabond. A Politics of Mobility.

The Cameron-Osborne years offer an important reminder that it is possible to excel at the theatre of politics - to "look prime ministerial", to dominate the "media narrative", to project "competence" and to communicate a clear political "story" - while being strikingly inept at governing.

🚨Abstract Deadline Day for 2025 Regional Futures Conference 🚨

⌛18 August

Join the RSA community in 🌎London, UK 🗓️13-14 November.

For more information and to submit your abstract:

🔗 bit.ly/4lgfLj3

😀🔁

How Spain put up wealth taxes - without chasing away the billionaires Amid calls for Rachel Reeves to bring in a new levy for the super-rich, Madrid offers lessons for policymakers

How Spain put up wealth taxes - without chasing away the billionaires.

Yet the 'don't tax the rich' brigade constantly scare people.

Wealth tax isn't just about revenued. It reduces inequalities, capacity of the rich to bribe, pollute, hijack democracy, hold governments to ransom.

Initial tax data allays fears of non-dom exodus from UK Officials had expected one in four with trusts to leave Britain after status was abolished

Despite all the naysayers, we can tax the rich ... and they won't all leave the country.

New tax data from HMRC allays fears of non-dom exodus from UK -

on.ft.com/4fzPXgF via @FT

Living standards declined under the last government, for the first time on record - according to our new analysis

Today, our report shows how this government can do better

And we argue next week’s spending review must pass the “living standards test”

Now...some charts!

Recruitment | Fabian Society Fabian Society

🚨Reminder: we're recruiting research roles!! 🚨

@thefabians.bsky.social

Not long left to apply now - closes 22 August...

fabians.org.uk/about-us/rec...

Looks great. I look forward to reading it.

Legacy of ‘inequality and deprivation’ in former coal mining communities A new report calls for an end to austerity, and sustainable long-term economic and social policies for coalfield areas

Reading an excellent & important research report on the need to end austerity economic, and develop sustainable long-term economic and social policies for coalfield areas. It's by David Etherington, Mia Gray, and Lisa Buckner and well worth a read. 👇

www.staffs.ac.uk/news/2025/04...

I am thrilled and grateful to @mia-gray.bsky.social and the @regstud.bsky.social for the 2025 Paul Benneworth Award. Special thanks to Markus Grillitsch, @miorner.bsky.social and Daniel Schiller for an enriching and enjoyable writing process! 🙏😃
www.regionalstudies.org/news/2025-rs...

Council recognises right of River Test to flow unimpeded and unpolluted Test is one of only about 200 chalk streams in the world and councillors says biodiversity in and around it has declined

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The "Rights of the River" really resonates with me. I think it's a great way to frame the issues.

I'm glad to see local politicians have recognised the right of the Test in Hampshire to flow freely and unpolluted.

I hope Cambridge can follow suit.

The answer to UK stagnation is staring us in the face Decades of policies focusing on London and the Southeast have entrenched inequalities on productivity

A rallying cry to think about regional inequality and productivity from @chionwurah.bsky.social - interesting how little we hear about ‘levelling up’ these days
on.ft.com/44ZZJFf

Not a surprise, but crucial to document and measure this.

BREAKING: The EU Commission has released a mandatory template for AI developers to disclose training data. Unlike the Code of Practice, this is not optional. It could have global fallout, as rights holders abroad might use it to sue over copyright.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/e...

Beyond ‘Levelling up’: how to improve regional policy in England: 10 lessons from 20 years ‘Levelling-up’ as a political slogan in the UK may be finished, but a commitment to reducing regional inequalities remains, as highlighted in the 2024 Green Paper on Industrial Strategy. This paper...

A short summary of my thoughts on regional policy. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....