Josh Westerling

RIP Morecambe FC, 1920-2025.

Today the club officially ran out of funds. There is no indication that a sale will be completed.

Our thoughts go out to the staff, supporters and anyone involved with Morecambe - both the club and community.

Jason Whittingham was allowed to kill your football team.

Pleased I shall be at the Oval tomorrow to at least see it end

Sudden realisation of how bereft I am going to feel when this series finishes

Please: stop this nonsense now

Recently joined Press Gazette as its new reporter (!). Have spent the last few weeks v much enjoying covering content such as below - crucial yet concerning times ahead for the industry. Reach out if you’d like to chat!

Labour urged to revive Sure Start label to win back Reform voters Commission says new Best Start project should be called Sure Start to rebuild trust in austerity damaged areas

Broke: Best Start
Woke: Reviving the Sure Start name
Bespoke: reviving the community-led mindset behind the original Sure Start as well

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The benefits of being an all-rounder Why specialists might win the battle, but mastering multiple skills wins the war

The benefits of being an all-rounder. Why specialists might win the battle, but mastering multiple skills helps win the war.

And because the choice/rationale surely underpins the political case you need to make and the story that you try to tell.

Starmer and Reeves should consider wealth tax, says former shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds urges government not to duck ‘big decisions’ in autumn budget

This article underlines that we need more precision when we discuss the 'wealth tax'. One-off or annual? Are the big three ruled out - is it either/or? Is the aim to shift the burden from labour to capital long-term, or to solve the fiscal hole of the present?

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

ICYMI: British Future is recruiting for 3 posts:
1) Senior Researcher on a new project on race equity;
2) Manager for a new ‘South Asian Bridgers Forum’ to strengthen inter-faith and inter-community solidarity between British South Asians;
3) Events and Parliamentary Networks Manager
[1/2]

One year on, tensions still circle Britain’s asylum-seeker hotels A report from Epping and Diss reveals disconnected and resentful communities.

One year on from the riots of 2024.

Today UCL Policy Lab @citizensuk.org and @moreincommonuk.bsky.social launch a new report as part of the This Place Matters project on the future of social cohesion. Covered by Anoosh Chakelian in the @newstatesman.com. www.newstatesman.com/cover-story/...

Good overview of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill by @alwalker.bsky.social. Pleased it highlights the debate that has opened up around neighbourhood governance and the case Rich Bell and I set out in @renewaljournal.bsky.social. renewal.org.uk/blog/labour-...

Challenge is how many ministers + MPs are able to communicate authentically which is key for this to work. Should be something that is considered as part of candidate selection and training programmes. Gov should also be thinking about outriders from civil society (incl. grassroots), business etc.

A lot people who go "the government's comms is shit" are simultaneously shitting on this.

My thoughts on it are that *if* influencers are willing to carry your story (need one tho) that is good. But you also need to get comfortable liberating ministers and MPs to get out on the podcasts etc.

class and race both factored into this in big ways; some patriarchal Muslim men in the UK see non-Muslim girls as inherently worthless + also slutty, the police often see girls from poor families and council estates the same way

Update: the discussion on X seems to now be about who might be a covert agent of the state.

Pubs, cafes, clubs - the ‘third spaces’ between home and work are vanishing. With them goes the social fabric of everyday life. We must reinvest in the places that bring us together.
Read more at www.ippr.org/articles/places-to-come-together

Summary of performance against key indicators of @localtrust.org.uk Big Local areas against other similar areas without neighbourhood-based interventions. Pretty impressive.

Paper: localtrust.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Summary of performance against key indicators of @localtrust.org.uk Big Local areas against other similar areas without neighbourhood-based interventions. Pretty impressive.

Paper: localtrust.org.uk/wp-content/u...

I feel like there is also an important link to this piece by Vidhya Alakeson about taking a more localised and community empowerment approach to many issues
bsky.app/profile/heta...

Is it all vibes or real life is I think an unhelpful binary. Public perceptions & our info envirionment can shift the political terrain of society & in turn impact us materially (take the USA). Progress needs to be felt

Trends toward many being more cash & time poor also exacerbate disconnection

Two weeks since 'The State of Us' report was published, there has been a lively discussion about our snapshot of community cohesion in the UK

Much of it captures a delicate but essential tightrope that must be walked between complacency and alarmism 🧵

The Lionesses make it cool to be English Chloe Kelly's comments mark a turning point in conversations about national identity.

Good piece by @meganekenyon.bsky.social. It's cool to say you're proud to be English - the Lionesses are reaching a different demographic to other sports/teams - and it's a counter to the right's ethnonationalism. www.newstatesman.com/culture/spor...

Headers are the most underratedly beautiful goals in football

compression culture is making you stupid and uninteresting why the death of nuance should scare you -your fav gen z philosopher xx

This is excellent
open.substack.com/pub/maalvika...

Cooking my way through heartbreak, by Megan Nolan Everything the novelist has learnt from a decade of dinners and dating

Beautiful piece by Megan Nolan on cooking food and love www.ft.com/content/dc22...

Yeah, in hindsight it wouldn’t have been very diplomatic to take Modi to this match.

It is bad and bizarre that this doesn’t feature in the right’s discourse. It’s a combination of the online and living in London, but I guess also indicates the damage lack of social rootedness has and that ‘heartlands’ gave parties an anchor they now lack

These are noticeable changes but are largely unremarked upon, which is good - in a sense - because it indicates how relaxed people can be about change over time and the common sense of the average British person (who is not racist!)

If you walk in the Chilterns you will see South Asian British people doing the same. My younger siblings classes at school are markedly more diverse than mine when there was a handful of non-white kids in my entire primary school.