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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 2d

If we can’t even talk in general terms about MPs’ workload- which MPs of all parties agree is v casework- heavy and getting heavier- without a lot of responses being to assume that MPs are not telling the truth/just whinging/ working on the wrong things etc- then I think we’re in a bad place

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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 3d

Private Eye offers up an excellently scornful commentary on the relentless polling. It’s become ridiculous and has oversimplified our politics to dangerous levels of stupid and irresponsible.

SHOCK POLL:
NIGEL FARAGE WILL BE PM TOMORROW
IN an amazing poll conducted
by The Pointless Polling Company, it was revealed that voters' intentions
may well change over the next three and a half years and at present it's 100 percent impossible to guess what the next government might look like.
However, 99 percent of journalists
agree that it would be much more fun if we had an election tomorrow and everybody resigned and everything was chaos and Farage had a go at being PM, just for the hell of it, because it was so much fun when
Brexit happened and then the government kept falling every five minutes and we could write endless pieces about (cont. p94)

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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 3d

Really interesting- and, I think, welcome- to see MPs sharing this kind of data about casework.

Casework is largely invisible (other than to the constituents it helps!) compared to what MPs do in the Commons chamber but is a huge part of MPs’ workload, and it’s really hard to get robust data on it

Dr Beccy Cooper MP @drbeccycoopermp.bsky.social · 3d

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Andrew Defty @adefty.bsky.social · 3d

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

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 3d

I feel it says quite a lot that this was a stat contained in the House of Commons' 2024/25 annual report 'year at a glance' section.

(Worth saying that the election meant that some additional maintenance work could take place but that is still... a lot of maintenance work)

Text box stating: 61k pieces of maintenance work completed

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Alexandra Meakin @ameakin.bsky.social · 3d

Yep, but it's a brilliant way to show how the building was absolutely not designed as a legislature! And @satisfactory20.bsky.social's insights are always worth sharing 🙌

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 4d

I really don't know what to do about a situation where a plurality of the group that (rightly!) takes up most government spending thinks that it is unrepresented in politics.

Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 4d

Hollow laughter

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Vanessa is the name of the Doctor! @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 5d

Reminder that basing funding on graduate income incentivises unis to close courses like nursing (too poorly paid), and to discriminate against female students and most minority ethnic groups (whose earnings on graduation are lower than white men).

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5d

'Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce plans to cut the number of UK university places by about 100,000 annually by reintroducing student number controls.' 1/3

Badenoch’s number caps plan would cut 100,000 university places

Tory leader to use conference speech to attack ‘debt trap degrees’ and pledge more money for apprenticeships

www.timeshighereducation.com

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HOPE not hate @hopenothate.org.uk · 10d

Hate seeks to divide us. But hope endures when we stand together. Our solidarity is with the Jewish community today. #britainstandstogether

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 10d

On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.

As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.

At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.

To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone.

We will not let hate or those who spread it win.

We stand with you.

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Nadine Batchelor-Hunt @nadinebh.bsky.social · 10d

Going to synagogue on the holiest day of the year should never, ever end with you lying dead simply because you’re a British Jew

Never

The implications for this for the UK Jewish community are going to be enormous

So many of us have been so, so scared about this moment

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Nadine Batchelor-Hunt @nadinebh.bsky.social · 10d

Bomb proof doors. Barbed wire. Coordinating with police. Community security service. Drilling congregants about the security protocol. Withholding the details of events publicly for security reasons. Always being on high alert. The list goes on.

And it’s still not enough.

What more can we do?

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Alex Sobel MP @alexsobel.co.uk · 11d

I have contacted West Yorkshire Police who have assured me that extra resources have been deployed to ensure there will be additional protection for places of Jewish worship in Leeds during this distressing time.

Antisemitism must never prevail.

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Alex Sobel MP @alexsobel.co.uk · 11d

I'm horrified by the reports of an attack on the Jewish community at Heaton Park synagogue, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. My thoughts are with the victims and their families, and all those affected by this horrific attack.

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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 12d

Incredibly useful thread from @chanret.bsky.social for anybody contemplating a PhD

Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 12d

Time for an explainer on how to get funding for a PhD in the UK (1/n)

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Marc Geddes @marcgeddes.uk · 12d

The fellow may focus on:

🇩🇪 Qual and quant research on the German/Bavarian parliaments

🇬🇧 Qual and quant research on the UK/Scottish parliaments

🔢 Quant research on the UK, Scottish, German and Bavarian parliaments

🌟 Research in another combination as designed by you (inc. the cases above)

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Marc Geddes @marcgeddes.uk · 12d

🚨 Job Opportunity! 🚨 Applications are now open for a new 2.5-year postdoc at @edinburghpir.bsky.social to examine how parliaments gather, analyse and use different types of knowledge - see the full job listing here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (SPARK)

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with experience in the politics of the UK, Scottish, German or Bavarian parliaments to join the UKRI-funded research project, ‘Studying Parliaments an...

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com

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Helen Bramah @helenbramah.bsky.social · 12d

Super excited to see the second paper from my PhD now published!

I find that making MPs' pay and expenses more salient significantly reduces political trust. Raising awareness of the regulator mitigates this effect when mentioning pay, but does not improve trust when expenses are mentioned.

BJPIR @bjpir.bsky.social · 12d

📣 New #openaccess #BJPIR article out now!

'Does independent regulation of MPs’ pay and expenses improve political trust? Evidence from a survey experiment' by Helen Bramah.

🔗 buff.ly/FPMxXzL

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 16d

The lane outside Grandma's had a stream running down the middle of it and plenty of mud. They held hands and slithered along together. Illustration by children's author Shirley Hughes, born in West Kirby. #WomensArt #NorthernArt

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Alexandra Meakin @ameakin.bsky.social · 17d

We had Beatties In Reading! Thanks for the reminder 🙌

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Robin Wilde @robinwilde.me · 18d

Last week, a woman sidled up to Dad (a white American) at the bus stop after seeing some black men and said "soon this whole town will be immigrants".

She was taken aback when he firmly pointed out they were more British than he was, and asked what made her assume he was okay, but they weren't.

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 18d

Friends have explained that street harassment today is significantly worse than it was just after the riots a year ago, taking clear action to condemn does set a tone and direction!

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 18d

Quite. So many Labour people on this website visibly have no idea of just how bad things have got for ethnic minorities since they came on, and how their visible indifference lands.

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Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 20d

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

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POLIS at Leeds @polisatleeds.bsky.social · 20d

Professor Adrian Gallagher appeared on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend to discuss the United Nations on its 80th anniversary. Listen to the show here: 📻

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Sunday - UN at 80; Christian Nationalism; Religion and video games - BBC Sounds

A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week

www.bbc.co.uk

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Alexandra Meakin @ameakin.bsky.social · 20d

Happy first day of 2025/26 intro week for our new and returning @polisatleeds.bsky.social students! So delighted that the Uni of Leeds heron also returned to mark the occasion 🙌

A majestic heron stands on a grassy platform in the middle of the Roger Stevens pond. The Roger Stevens building is in the background, with lots of students trooping up the building ramp. The sky is blue with a few floaty white clouds.

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University of Leeds @universityofleeds.bsky.social · 20d

It's Welcome Week here at Leeds, which means our campus is lovely and busy 🙌 ☀️

For new students, life in Leeds starts now, and this week is all about meeting new people, trying new things and exploring your new home.

https://students.leeds.ac.uk/welcome

Graphic featuring an image of students on the Parkinson steps with the text "Welcome to your new home" overlayed

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