LonWon

‘Is university still worth it?’ is the wrong question The graduate earnings premium isn’t really measuring what most people think

Turns out (says @jburnmurdoch.ft.com) it's not so much an oversupply of graduates in the UK (the same would be true of other similar countries but it's not) as an undersupply of the kind of jobs that a better-performing, more productive economy would supply.

It's an excellent piece. The answer to how the likes of Ridley thrive is very simple.

He's an Eton educated Oxford graduate who is also a hereditary peer. He may be exceptionally stupid, but that is enough in this country to cover you in armour plating and propel you onwards in your career.

Lost my phone in London, with four credit cards and £150 cash in the case. Returned to me within 21 minutes. This hellhole of a city eh.

One in nine new homes in England built in areas of flood risk, study shows Figures from Aviva also show number of homes being built in risky areas is on the rise

One in nine new homes in England built between 2022 and 2024 were constructed in areas that could now be at risk of flooding.

But Reform UK, the Tories and Labour are agreed that it's a priority to cut safeguards for planning applications
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A man pushed me in the street, he wanted to teach me a lesson. Is that OK now? | Lucy Pasha-Robinson Many women reading this will have experienced something similar: a warning that sharing public space isn’t a man’s job, it’s a woman’s, says Lucy Pasha-Robinson, a Guardian assistant Opinion editor

"Somewhere along the way, the handbrake has come off"

Whether it's misogyny or racism, why is bigotry somehow ok now?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Exeter City Council currently:

Labour 22
Greens 7
LibDems 4
Conservatives 3
Independents 2
Reform 1

13 seats to be contested in May:

8 are currently held by Labour
2 by the Greens
1 by the LibDems
1 by the Conservatives
1 by Reform

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Exeter Labour tried to cancel elections. Now it's going to face the wrath of voters.

@exeterobserver.org has the full details of the council leader's self-serving manoeuvres
exeterobserver.org/2026/02/16/e...

Zack Polanski on how Keir Starmer could have changed the April 2025 UK Supreme Court ruling to protect trans rights (EXCLUSIVE) Zack Polanski revealed how Keir Starmer could have acted to protect trans rights after April 2025 UK Supreme Court ruling.

It’s the Government’s duty to protect all communities - including trans people.

They’re failing to do that.

Trans people deserve safety and dignity.

www.attitude.co.uk/news/zack-po...

I am pleased the Government has done another u turn.

Attempting to cancel elections, on top of scrapping jury trials, mandatory ID cards, criminalising peaceful protest and harassment of journalists is part of a disturbing authoritarian trend of this caretaker Prime Minister.

Social security is not welfare I have long thought that one of the quietest acts of political vandalism in modern Britain was the change of language that sought to turn social security into welfare. It happened slowly. It sounded h...

So much of modern political rhetoric is do with triggering the frame of "taxpayers' money vs handouts", "workers vs shirkers", "deserving vs undeserving poor"...

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/02...

It occurs to me that I've been adopting the equally unsuitable term "vulture" capitalism, to clarify (like Hickel & Varoufakis) that we're questioning a very particular model of social organisation, not demanding an end to markets, trade, and entrepreneurship.

Stewart checked himself too late as he absentmindedly threw his friend George Osborne under the bus.

Campbell seemed to almost realise at a few points that loyalty to chums and fellow travellers might have been a factor in Mandelson (and by extension Epstein) getting away with so much.

There is a lot of convenient amnesia about Peter Mandelson’s New Labour days. Let’s jog some memories | George Monbiot Yes, he betrayed the national interest in his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein – but also in his sanctioned role as enabler of corporate power, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

Insightful article by @georgemonbiot.bsky.social arguing that Mandelson didn't betray New Labour. He was doing exactly what he was appointed to do: Serving the interests of corporations by removing the safeguards protecting us from predatory corporate behaviour.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What these “but why do people hate Starmer SO MUCH” takes come down to is so shallow.

Starmer doesn’t sound or look like a firebrand so what’s the big deal?

Immune to questions of SUBSTANCE - he’s liar, enabled a genocide, pandered to anti-migrant politics & global Fascism.

Fascinating hearing Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell on the latest "The Rest Is Politics" struggling in real time with this issue.

Friendships, relationships, family etc play a huge role in British politics; and the Epstein scandal is triggering uncomfortable self-reflections.

Lab MP Georgia Gould is asked if theres a problem with how everyone in politics seems to be interconnected

Gould, the daughter of Lord Gould (a key figure in NewLabour), who as a child used to go on hols with Alistair Campbell & his family & Mandelson, says there isnt a problem

"Allies of Wes Streeting expect him to try to challenge Keir Starmer within weeks, despite the health secretary insisting he backs the prime minister and is not intending to move against him"

It would be hilarious... if not for the genocide.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Starmer government shouldn't get away with this.

Arming a state committing genocide is about the worst thing a government can do. And Wes Streeting blithely admits to it, in correspondence with Peter Mandelson.

Powerful stuff from @owenjones.bsky.social

Zack Polanski pressures Wes Streeting over Palantir after Mandelson texts released ZACK Polanski has piled fresh pressure on Wes Streeting over Palantir’s NHS contracts after the Health Secretary’s newly-released text messages…

A £240m defence contract without tender.

Their fingerprints all over our health care data.

A meeting in the USA but without any minutes.

Everything around Palantir stinks.

www.thenational.scot/news/2584192...

Irish man held in ICE detention says he fears for his life and asks Ireland for help Seamus Culleton describes conditions as ‘torture’ as he pleads with taoiseach to raise his case with Donald Trump

The United States has imprisoned an Irish man for six months in inhumane conditions. He's committed no crime
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

What Greens need is greater visible economic credibility.

It won't be enough to be citing Murphy, Stephenson & Blakeley.

Farage will have the combined might of markets, big business, & establishment orthodoxy in his corner.

Can support for the Greens come from academia & enlightened CEOs?

IDK

The challenge for the Greens is whether their prescription will stay the course until the General Election.

Progressives hope that public ownership, investment in public services, environmentalism, wealth taxes, and safety nets are credible as an alternative to Austerity. But we don't really know.

As for the Greens, I think they will shoot up the polls at the expense of all the other parties and Don't Knows. Polanski is gaining cut through with his account of what's going wrong. His prescription will compete with Farage's, leaving the other parties for dust.

I expect a small improvement in Labour's fortunes from attracting back some disillusioned with Starmer and prepared to gamble on a new leader.

But it won't make a material electoral difference.

Meanwhile Farage & LibDems will mop up many but far from all Tory votes.

There's no obvious frontrunner to succeed Starmer. Rayner, Streeting, Lammy, Reeves etc don't have a convincing prescription for what's going wrong.

Even Burnham might not have been enough: Up until recently he was very much of the New Labour tendency that isn't up to the challenge of the 2020s.

A week later and internal party polls and the bookies tend to support my guess.

So what will happen if the by-election pans out as expected?

Firstly Labour will enter crisis mode. Some will argue "Hold your nerve. Flash in the pan. Mid-term blues... etc" but I think they'll be the minority.

"Streeting, regarded as a potential leadership contender should Starmer go, had a close friendship with Mandelson that, after the scandal that erupted last week, threatened to be a significant liability to his ambitions." written by Pippa Crerar and Peter Walker. Inset: "'Ignore the smears: I was never a close friend of Peter Mandelson. AndI fully understand the lessons we must learn' Wes Streeting" https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/09/streeting-wrote-off-his-re-election-chances-in-whatsapp-exchanges-with-mandelson

See also
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

"Streeting, regarded as a potential leadership contender should Starmer go, had a close friendship with Mandelson that, after the scandal that erupted last week, threatened to be a significant liability to his ambitions." written by Pippa Crerar and Peter Walker. Inset: "'Ignore the smears: I was never a close friend of Peter Mandelson. AndI fully understand the lessons we must learn' Wes Streeting" https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/09/streeting-wrote-off-his-re-election-chances-in-whatsapp-exchanges-with-mandelson

See also

Facebook post by The Labour Party "REVEALED: leaked messages from Green Party campaigners admit that they have "no actual policies" and "no one believes" they can win in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Now they need to come clean with the voters of Gorton and Denton in public If you want to stop Reform, vote Labour" Plus various images https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17xxj3ZNPu/

Desperate by Labour.

But on the upside, they actually included the "evidence", which turns out to be nothing like the claims. And a source "Via The Telegraph".

A more shameless party might just assert. (Or they're just bad at dirty tricks)

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