This is not a good moment in British politics, but there have been worse times. And it is no part of Starmer's growth plan to deport talented teachers with a real desire to contribute to our country.
04.10.2025 22:23 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0@stevebundred.bsky.social
Former CEO of Audit Commission, local govt improvement agency and Camden Council. Chair of health regulator etc. Interested in politics, public service improvement, education and the performing arts
This is not a good moment in British politics, but there have been worse times. And it is no part of Starmer's growth plan to deport talented teachers with a real desire to contribute to our country.
04.10.2025 22:23 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0They don't seem to be banning Agatha Christie so I assume they believe murder is normal but sex isn't.
30.08.2025 12:00 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0America has entered the 'disappearing of political dissidents' phase.
17.06.2025 18:57 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Feeling deeply moved by reading Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns and very humbled by not having come across it before.
15.06.2025 22:04 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Increase in productivity since 1979: 86%
Increase in hourly pay since 1979: 31%
Just so happens that ~25% of workers were unionized in 1979. Today? 10%.
As unions declined, the super-rich have taken a larger share of wealth generated by labor. We must build back union power.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.
04.04.2025 23:24 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Fiscal rules can be useful. But the Treasury always attaches more importance to them than they deserve. And something which can be broken with impunity on a regular basis isn't a rule. It's a target. Much more important is whether the public finances are sustainable.
31.03.2025 12:34 β π 130 π 26 π¬ 6 π 5I don't generally go nuts for learning from leaders in other domains, but I would strongly recommend Gareth Southgate's Dimbleby Lecture. I found what he said about creating the right culture spot on and quite moving. He brings together when so many are keen to divide. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
20.03.2025 20:02 β π 27 π 6 π¬ 0 π 1"The most important political question on which modern times have to decide is the policy that must now be pursued in order to maintain the security of Western Europe against the overgrown power of Russia." - John Mitchell (1838)
19.03.2025 15:13 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Dear England is not a play about football. It's about race and leadership, which is why it's so great and why people who don't like football should nevertheless see it.
18.03.2025 23:15 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0"The most important political question on which modern times have to decide is the policy that must now be pursued in order to maintain the security of Western Europe against the overgrown power of Russia." - John Mitchell (1838)
18.03.2025 16:19 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Tonight, I feel very proud of my Prime Minister
01.03.2025 22:51 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0It's probably a mistake to believe that richer voters prioritise low tax over better public services.
22.02.2025 16:02 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0If you missed today's newsletter, in which I said 'look, come on, we really do need to be increasing spending back to 1966 to 1990 levels and it's mad to think you can get political consent for that without increasing spending elsewhere', don't worry: I will be saying it for most of the year I think
18.02.2025 13:00 β π 253 π 51 π¬ 18 π 7Before we start looking for solutions to these problems in the form of curriculum or pedagogical reform, might it not be worth checking first to see whether similar wellbeing deterioration has occurred for teenagers in lesser performing countries in the last few years...?
03.02.2025 07:19 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0We seem to be nationalising the existing railway but privatising a new oneβ¦
19.01.2025 16:44 β π 3 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0Huge gratitude for our neighbors, Mexico and Canada have sent fire fighters and army to help us.
12.01.2025 01:40 β π 49762 π 7044 π¬ 922 π 322I have a high regard for Peter Mandelson and no problem with this appointment, but I think it's a mistake for Starmer to keep appointing high profile people from the Blair years to senior posts. Another rave from the grave does not feel like the chnage we voted for.
19.12.2024 20:49 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I worked very closely with Chris when I was running the Audit Commission. In my view he's a very good appointment. Just the sort of Cabinet Secretary Starmer urgently needs.
03.12.2024 16:19 β π 3 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Granary Square Brasserie at King's Cross just invited me to include a tip, after adding a 13.5% service charge to the bill. Very shady practice!
19.11.2024 22:51 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I am speaking at #LitdriveCPD25! π
Session Title: How to Read a Poem
To book tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1016588552...
It was truly fabulous last time, so don't miss out on the nerdery π€
@LitdriveUK #LitdriveCPD
Have just voted in the election for Chancellor of Oxford. The 38 candidates are a generally unimpressive lot. One opposes 'woke ideology', one promises to end student drug taking and another to have more plant based options in college dining rooms. After 800 years, I had hoped for a better choice.
28.10.2024 21:19 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0It may be more than ten years old but Longitude remains both readable and important.
05.10.2024 08:31 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0So far, I've gathered that Tory Leadership candidates are promising to move the UK embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, or leave the ECHR or abolish maternity pay. I can't truly say they talk of little else in The Island Queen.
29.09.2024 21:08 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0UPDATE: Taylor Swift's post on Instagram endorsing Kamala Harris brought 405,999 visitors to vote.gov in the 24-hour period the post was live, per GSA (via Monica Alba, NBC)
12.09.2024 17:02 β π 1494 π 233 π¬ 20 π 44Taylor Swift drove 338K people to Vote.gov with her endorsement of Kamala Harris, THR reports.
11.09.2024 22:07 β π 955 π 128 π¬ 26 π 30Holy crap! That's 1% of the country. And considering only about 50% of people vote, that could be 2% of all voters. That could be a game-changer.
12.09.2024 17:41 β π 23 π 2 π¬ 2 π 1Well it won't hold forever, but it might hold for a few more weeks. They were still blaming Labour fourteen years into their catastrophic series of governments.
07.09.2024 15:43 β π 3 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0