Hashtag_Ian

One of the only upsides to this is that there may yet be a future where the order and nature of Mandelson scandals (Scandelsons?) forms the basis of a tricky tiebreak in a pub quiz, or a reboot of Have I Got News for You

Happy for Gen Z that they get their own Mandelson scandal.

New YouGov poll gives Reform its lowest lead since last April.

RFM: 25% (+1)
LAB: 21% (+2)
CON: 17% (-1)
GRN: 16% (-1)
LDM: 14% (=)

Looks like hoovering up a series of deeply unpopular, disgraced former Conservative ministers isn't quite the massive vote winning strategy that was predicted

Thats a really good point,

I think its also interesting with for the extended cast too,

Sophie's parents (rural/farmers, feel abandoned politically?),
Big Suze (works in the arts, but comes from money, ???),
Toni (Staunch/ideologically lib dem?),

Also, not sure what the British equivalent is... Peep Show? The Inbetweeners? The Office? Gavin and Stacey?

(Think, large ensemble class with a variety of incomes and backgrounds)

I'm learning about American voting patterns through.... Ah yes, the simpsons. Good morning world!

Also check out @jamesbreckwoldt.bsky.social's work on this, legitimately sick!

The @artistsunioneng.bsky.social have a good quote on this:

“there's money for flashy extensions and six-figure salaries, but poverty pay for the workers.”

Having watched the SIMULTANEOUS squeeze on every facet of the arts since 2012, AND the consolidation of funding into organisations and organisational costs I wonder, with trepidation, how this pans out...

Follow up! WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FIND THE ORIGINAL FILM

Counterpoint: Possibly needs help working a phone or on other complex operations.

@musicologyduck.bsky.social, your time is NOW!

I would also very much like a weirder version of this (perhaps one step away from the 1987 cosmic keyboard though),

But I wonder if in 2026, we could all use a little more bland in our lives. Reality is weird enough.

Once (last year!), on a call with my local MP, I mentioned that the average US university student debt was lower than the average UK university student debt (it is).

Not only did the MP not know this, but the response was 'well, not based on the Americans I know'.

The news is mad. Dystopian. Surreal.

The US President is unhinged & dangerous.

Putin’s being left to his own devices.

A Dane said ‘fuvk off’ in Parliament & it felt appropriate

Macron’s being tough…in aviators.

Netanyahu and Putin have been invited onto a board of peace. Ditto Blair

Help

Yes.

Good morning. It turns out that heads of universities can still be changed.

This is the best thing anyone working in UK Higher Education can do today, particularly if you're at Kent or Greenwich.
As a union we're stronger together.
Support your local branch.

I share your frustrations, but there is I think, a very fair criticism to be levelled at the campaign (such as it was), from the central office.

Local branch committees are amazing but can't GTVO if there's no real support from central and they're all busy fighting on a local level... IMO

The thing I like most about this photo is that it implies you'd been shopping for tricolour balaclavas and MPs to kidnap.

New Green Party advert just dropped explaining why you should vote for them. And its a cracker!

Start of some really helpful commentary/summary of the HE funding committee today here: Shoutout @eicathomefinn.bsky.social

“A colleague asked me if I really expected the union to win. He could not understand why we were doing it; he thought our failure an inevitability. I relayed this to a union comrade who responded, ‘we’re a trade union in 2022, of course we don’t expect to win!’” (Zara Dinnen, 2025).

Morning Bluesky.

In Türkiye, Erdogan has arrested his biggest rival and the man likely to beat him in an election, the mayor of İstanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu. Several members of his close circle have also been taken into custody.

Now a full-on autocracy.

💪

Also there are like 30 accounts in there, so if I missed anyone, tell me!

Realised today that there's not a UK contemporary dance starter pack on here, maybe there shouldn't be, but I made one

go.bsky.app/QCLedGm

Some days I just want to sit here and read a whole heap of petty UK Arts Sector beef.

But instead I have to read about a former gameshow host plunging the world into crisis.

All of these issues become really acute now. But they have been visible and challenged for a while. You just didn’t want to listen and prevent then.

Screenshot of the title and blurb of a Times Higher Education article. Title: ‘Perfect storm’ of challenges ahead, warns longest-serving v-c. Blurb: ‘Real challenges only now emerging,’ says John Cater in paper looking back over decades-long university career February 20, 2025

Can we not re-write the past decade though? Lots of people have seen this issues while they were being set up and called it out all along the way. Glad you’re with us now, and support the insight you newly gained, but don’t gaslight.

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/perfect...