Maria Abreu

Oh, I didn’t know he had died 😞

The more I read this, the worse it looks. This sentence particularly.

"To rebuild a broken economy, one needs the “social glue” that conservatism provides"

Conservatism in this form means racism and xenophobia. That isn't 'social glue'. It's the opposite.

"The Effects of a Sudden Stop in Low-Skilled Immigration: Evidence from Korea’s Guest Worker Program" www.nber.org/papers/w34927
"the collapse in inflows led to a significant increase in firm exit.... Firms did not respond by expanding domestic hiring to replace missing guest workers."

Rabobank on the unfolding worst case scenario:

Meanwhile, Spain's massive investment in renewables is paying dividends now: with prices for Spanish industry and consumers low and stable compared with other European economies.

www.ft.com/content/ac77...

For anyone who knew Michael Kuczynski, this was a wonderful, very moving service. It is still available to view via the link below.

Pembroke Hall. On an easel stands a painting of Michael Kuczynski and Sir Roger Tomkys order tea in Fitzbillies.

Watch the livestream of Michael Kuczynski's Memorial Service from Great St Mary's: www.youtube.com/@GreatStMarys

Download a copy of the Order of Service: www.pem.cam.ac.uk//sites/defau...

The service starts today, Saturday 7th March, at 2.00 pm (GMT).

Spaniels too. My spaniel can catch a treat in the dark.

This delivery driver throws treats to all the dogs on his route to see if they can catch. Spoiler alert: some of them definitely cannot. Still 13/10 for all (TT: jezzyvi)

There is something very ugly about saying lower earners - for example the people who care for our families - are contributing less than high earners.

Especially for a Labour government.

Aside from everything else, deeply confused policy from govt here. Is care work (a major driver of migration) low skilled?

Or is it, as another govt Department thinks, worthy of better pay and conditions through better collective bargaining (the Fair Pay Agreement policy)?

“Hardworking taxpayers”, as if low-skilled migrants were not hardworking or taxpayers.

British Academy response to the Department for Education's technical consultation on the Interational Student Levy 18 February 2026 Background The Department for Education is consulting on the proposed levy on international student income, due to be introduced in England in August 2028.

‘We remain deeply concerned that universities will be unable to absorb the cost of the levy’s
introduction. The loss of cross-subsidy for domestic teaching & research will harm
universities’ ability to deliver their core functions’
Our response to the levy
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/60...

REPORTER: Yesterday you told us Israel was going to strike Iran and that's why we needed to get involved. But today the president said Iran--

RUBIO: No. Were you there yesterday?

REPORTER: Yes. I asked the question

This is excellent on the proposed changes to visa and asylum rules. More generally, I don’t understand why Labour would want to keep immigration salient? This sort of discourse will only help Reform.

Not gonna lie: much less exciting story than the headline made it sound

We had a Levelling Up paper under review at that time too, and ended up having to change the title 🙄

More money for Trump, who’s keeping all the profits in a slush fund.

Elder and son looking out a door in a darkened room with a dirt floor.

OMG, the light.

The picture is entitled “Taita Marcos” and was shot at Cotacachi, Ecuador in 1988 by renowned Mexican photographer, Flor Garduño.

#Sunday #BlackAndWhite
#Photography 📷 🎞️

Lots of great suggestions in this thread for anyone interested in film photography.

Or moved to a two-layer system with books in front of other books to make space?

Maybe they had a recent clear-out of duplicates to make space for new books? Or a student or colleague “borrowed” some books? They are probably annoyed they didn’t write down which books were borrowed.

What’s next on your list 😳

The problem with this kind of approach is that the top talent also needs medium- and low-skilled workers to support them, so adding a few visas at the top while keeping the restrictions for everyone else is not going to work.

Insulting the voters. Always a winning strategy.

This is very interesting analysis.

Chart showing proportion of 18-24-year-olds who are NEET, by whether 'unemployed' or 'inactive': UK

Over the past year, we've seen a rise in the proportion of young people who are NEET because they are unemployed, i.e. these young people are actively looking for work but unable to find a job.

Our response to yesterday's data ➡️ buff.ly/kQizC0S

😳

Build a custom area profile - ONS Create your own profile for local areas with data for England and Wales.

95% of people in Gorton and Denton speak English well or as a main language

4.2% speak it but not well

0.9% don't speak English

Given Muslims are 28% of the constituency, the large majority of them speak English well or as a main language

ONS data here:

www.ons.gov.uk/visualisatio...