Definitely worth a read.

Quote graphic Louise Murphy, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation said: “The recent reform of adult disability benefits in Scotland offers valuable lessons to policy makers in the rest of the UK. Although eligibility and rates of pay for this type of support are consistent across the UK, the new application process has been welcomed by claimants as granting them greater dignity than before. “After an initial ‘bedding-in’ period when applications and awards spiked, award rates are now slightly lower in Scotland than in England and Wales, as are the number of awards paid at a more generous enhanced level. “With the Timms Review due to recommend reforms to PIP in 2026, the recent changes in Scotland suggest that reforms which provide claimants with more dignity don’t necessarily result in significantly higher costs for Government

🚨New research published today🚨

Reforms to Scottish disability payments suggest that the system can be kinder without being costlier.

Full story 👉 buff.ly/OAMzq06

PhD Studentship : AHRC Landscape Award PhD Studentship in the Arts and Humanities at Oxford Brookes University Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...

Oxford Brookes University has a huge raft of AHRC-funded PhD studentships in the Arts, Humanities and allied subjects! Both fees and a stipend covered. Take a look at the ad below - the closing date is 30th January 2026. Anyone interested at all, get in touch!
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPM937/p...

Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics at UCL An academic position as a Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional academic job opportunities.

Not a drill - there's a Britain-focused lectureship (FT, permanent) available.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPQ588/l...

Increasingly obvious yet usually badly discussed. The 1960s / 70s was the ending of the post-war European industrial growth era, 2010s the breakdown of its free market replacement together with the fraying of 1940s rules indirectly by 21st century technology.

the chart of misery, and also a sign of success stagnant household real consumption is what we were told we needed

Just before that OBR document dropped, I wrote this about why sluggish household spending is part of the grim plan

open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...

The flat fee of £925 is a 6% levy on fees of £15,419 - a higher rate on lower costs, a lower rate on higher cost degrees. This will have a smaller impact than a 6% levy on the 19 institutions who thought it could cost them > £10m as their average international fees are above £15k

Yeah. The correct 'reform' of the OBR is it should be Parliament's creature first and foremost. It's good for HMT to have its own forecasts and for the Chancellor's ideology to be a partial driver to them!

Much to agree with here, notably on Labour's bewildering lack of interest in what 2010-24 governments actually did in policy terms. But this - something we have known for well over a century! - just cannot be repeated too often.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Edinburgh Explore an exciting academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

Job Alert! DH postdoc at Edinburgh - Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to work on the AHRC-funded project "Voices in Slavery’s Archive: Law, Place and Testimony in British Guiana", which will build a digital archive out of the recorded words of enslaved people. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPN147/p...

It's great to see the @socialpolicyblog.bsky.social is now on BlueSky! Follow for insightful #SocialPolicy analysis from @socialpolicyuk.bsky.social authors and more!

The localisation era • Resolution Foundation This report is part of the project Safety Nets: social security for families in a devolved UK, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. It examines the growth of localised social security in the UK from 201...

New @resolutionfoundation.org @safety-nets.bsky.social report on the localisation of social security since 2013: Support delivered by local authorities isn't well understood but is an increasingly important part of the social security system: real spending on it is now 122 times higher than 2010-11

Reposting, just in case you don't yet know - next week, in Edinburgh, Prof Mark Findlay is talking on his book, Governing the Metaverse.

Tell your friends, tell your students, tell it to that enigmatic stranger sitting in the corner...

#Law #Regulation #Cyberspace #Metaverse

Hvid røg fra København: SF skriver historie og erobrer overborgmesterposten fra S Socialdemokratiet erkender nederlaget og bliver det tredje største parti i hovedstaden efter Enhedslisten og SF.

Historic shift in Copenhagen. After a century of Social Democratic rule, the city have elected its first ever left-wing mayor.

www.dr.dk/nyheder/poli...

"Libraries and archives are the labs of humanities and social science scholars, and history is not possible without them." 🔥

Here is a sneak peek from our forthcoming special issue on "social policy implementation in Southern Europe and Latin America" where Llorenç Soler-Buades and Francisco Ferraioli argue that rescaling of welfare can introduce additional burdens for claimants.

Universities fear £50 million hit from budget ‘pensions tax’ Cost to sector ‘significant’ as reports say chancellor planning to limit tax-free contributions

UK universities are becoming “very concerned” amid growing speculation that chancellor Rachel Reeves will use next week’s budget to cap tax-free pension contributions – a move that could cost the sector £50 million. @twilliamsthe.bsky.social reports

I know it’s always like this. But one striking thing from the budget kite flying and kite pulling back in, is how major policy decisions are constantly being buffeted around by iterative forecast changes.
All feels a bit of a silly way to be making major economic policy & political decisions.

Rewind: Alexander Gallas on the Thatcherite offensive Podcast Episode · Politics Theory Other · 11/15/2025 · 52m

📻 Sunday listening 📻 - Alexander Gallas on popular support for the Thatcher governments of the 1980s, Thatcherism as a "two-nations hegemonic project" and the debates between Stuart Hall and Bob Jessop on how to make sense of Thatcherism:

If you care about the future of University of Edinburgh, call or email your local MSP on Monday:

Monday, 17 November: Call your MSP. UCU has prepared a briefing here, but you can also simply call and tell your story. These cuts will affect the whole city.

www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/lobby-your-m...

When neoliberalism meets technocracy: intra-elite conflict and the realignment of Britain’s macroeconomic regime under Liz Truss This article offers a new account of Liz Truss’s premiership by analysing the political economy of the 2022 mini-Budget crisis. Engaging with literature on depoliticisation, statecraft, and the Cit...

My new article on everyone’s favourite PM, Liz Truss, is out in New Political Economy 🧵

New Universal Credit statistics today show the % of claimants in the ‘no work requirements’ conditionality group has continued to rise to 49%, and the proportion in work has fallen to 33%. This is likely to be written up as ‘a rise in claimants not required to work’, but context is very important! 🧵

Mayfield Review rightly highlights employer incentives for more evidence & then action. But this is the bit that's absolutely crucial and has been ducked by governments for a long time. That must change for better living standards, inclusion &growth.
3/n www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/from...

Plans for Edinburgh private hire cars to be allowed to use bus lanes Council officers are recommending that councillors delay making any decision on a policy change until after several projects and traffic studies are completed

What an utterly terrible thing for Edinburgh Council to do. It's bad enough sharing space with black cabs but private hires are just bad www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinbur...

Looking forward to speaking here on Wednesday:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spa-worksh...

Senior Research Fellow, IPPR North | IPPR The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is an independent charity working towards a fairer, greener, and more prosperous society.

We're hiring!💥

IPPR North are looking for a senior researcher who has big ideas for the future of our regions. Join us at this pivotal time for our economy and democracy.

Based in Manchester, apply by 31st October.

www.ippr.org/jobs/senior-...

Anyway, what the Government have done here on universities is put out a thinkpiece that's like a paper bag with 'policies' written on it - but with very little inside. All they've really done is press the button marked 'higher fees' without any sense of structural reform. (19/?)

Research Handbook on Social Policy and Employment ‘This Handbook has an extraordinarily comprehensive historical and global range, placing current developments in a strong perspective of historical development and including countries in the global so...

Now available: www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/res... co-edited by policy group member Elke Heins, with contributions from policy group members: @haylesben.bsky.social, @chrisgrover.bsky.social @heejungchung.bsky.social @katyjones.bsky.social

This is just ridiculous.