David Edgerton

I think often about how the historian @davidedgerton.bsky.social predicted the disturbing extremist slide in UK politics, in this interview conducted in the summer of 2023 and recounted in my book What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except the British).

linktr.ee/whateveryone...

Yup www.ft.com/content/a48c...

Quite right - it macerated the brain. It’s time to retire the word ‘technology’

‘People said it would never be done’: UK and India trade agreement defies expectations For Britain, this is a much-needed post-Brexit boost, and for India it shows decades of protectionism are in the past

I'm a big fan of the colourful briefs given by government teams regarding how brilliant they were to achieve trade deals, obviously effort was involved, but a mostly tariff reducing UK-India deal was always on offer - it was lowering UK ambition that got the deal. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Keir Starmer removes Labour whip from four ‘persistent rebel’ MPs Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff pushed out and three trade envoys lose roles

Starmer's party has an extraordinary capacity to prove its critics right. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Even declinism gets worse - nice from @johnmerrick.bsky.social

If only I didn't waste my time researching stuff and instead just went on about "blockchain-based trade initiatives" I could presumably earn a lot more money...

Annus horribilis Keir Starmer’s government does not represent the true Labour Party.

I've written about Keir Starmer's government in its first year www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...

I agree that not running things well is a big problem but I think what we take to be management, and management training, is part of the problem rather than the solution …

Yup - big, big problem.

Haven't digested yet, but there are 16 world-leadings and 8 superpowers in the text ...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685854...

The industrial strategy will provide certainty for business Debates about big or small government belong in the past; being agile enough to seize future chances is what matters

"The only debate now is whether you are agile enough to seize future chances or be rapidly left behind. That is the driving purpose of my plan for change."

Oh dear. Whatever a strategy is, this isn't it. www.ft.com/content/a033...

Ukania ✅ Original New Left critique of the peculiarities of British capitalism.

Yookay ❌ Boorish far right mantra of surface level gripes, real or imagined.

Tom Nairn had your number.

An idea for Keir ...
crane-dragonfly-8ey5.squarespace.com/blog/2025/6/...

This is a wonderful discussion of my Rise and Fall of the British Nation, and the first to note the importance to it of my critique of Cain and Hopkins, which I took, along with that of Anderson and Nairn, to be richest existing analyses of the twentieth century British nation and empire.

Honestly I still can’t stop laughing 😂😅🤣

David Edgerton durante su conferencia “What can chemistry tell us about capitalism, and what can capitalism tell us about chemistry?” en la #14ICHC @euchems-histchem.bsky.social

Ideas for Keir Tracey Emin, Jeremy Corbyn, Piers Morgan and others on what the Prime Minister should do next.

Pouring water on a duck’s back - me and others telling Keir Starmer to change things www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/0...

A devastating portrait of a sentimental, nostalgic, prime minister without ideas

Ideas for Keir Tracey Emin, Jeremy Corbyn, Piers Morgan and others on what the Prime Minister should do next.

www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/0...

Labour claims to be defending Britain from new threats, but its warfare state is steeped in old thinking | David Edgerton For every sensible proposal, there’s a failure to think through the UK’s place in the world – and a promised ‘defence dividend’ that won’t materialise, says academic and author David Edgerton

Once again! An essential call for a “genuine rupture” meanwhile back on what remains of the ranch… www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour claims to be defending Britain from new threats, but its warfare state is steeped in old thinking | David Edgerton For every sensible proposal, there’s a failure to think through the UK’s place in the world – and a promised ‘defence dividend’ that won’t materialise, says academic and author David Edgerton

I've written for the Guardian on Labour's nostalgia for the warfare state. @kingshistory.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Small amount yes - but that the NHS was primarily tax funded was a vital element in the architecture of the Beveridge system. Health had to be universally available (to all irrespective of stamp) - it could not be restricted to NI payers. Ditto family allowances. Needed for keeping the flat rate.

And believing the stamp pays for the NHS which it really never has! They are referring to the pre NHS national health insurance!

It’s not *technically* out until Thursday.
But I’m smiling.

I've made a submission to the Business and Trade Select Committee on defence industrial strategy and its complexities and history, and calling for realism and modesty. The UK gave up being a defence industrial superpower many, many decades ago ... committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide...

So it's coming up for a year of Labour in government. And we still don't have an industrial strategy. Why has it taken so long, what exactly is the problem, and what should we do about it? Some suggestions here 👇

There is also surely the possibility that such a belief supports the political agenda of significant parts of the Labour leadership. Too often we assume Labour is constrained by the electorate- but it is doing what it believes in and invents its (lost) voters to justify its programme.

Labour has denounced me as ‘deeply misleading’ on its planning reform. I wish that were true | George Monbiot Even it now admits that brick by brick, these proposals will wreck habitats. This could be Starmer’s most damaging mistake yet, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

*Copy one of Boris Johnson's stupidest and most self-destructive policies.
*Ignore the massive wave of public fury it ignited.
*Smear and attack anyone warning that it might not be a great idea.
In this week's column I ask what the hell Keir Starmer is playing at.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Geoffrey Wheatcroft · New Deal at Dunkirk: Wartime Tories Even if they had been appeasers, most Conservatives accepted the patriotic necessity of the war, but had many different...

Very good to see @kitkowol.bsky.social brilliant book reviewed in the LRB! New Deal at Dunkirk www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...