The new "enemy within".

"In more positive news for the Lib Dems,..research carried out by [the party members project] after the 2024 election showed that the @libdems.org.uk were the most active of all the memberships of the political parties."

Repeat after me: Unherd is a far-right outlet.

Repeat after me: Labour's. 'Base'. Is. Not. Working. Class.

If you don’t like being called a racist, maybe don’t make a career of saying things that appeal to racists, don’t create a political party that keeps attracting racist candidates, don’t fawn over racist world leaders, and don’t make a convicted racist the guest of honour at your party conference.

My contribution to this issue calls for Labour to counter the growing illiberalism in British politics.

For 240 years, Queen Mary has been tackling inequalities, changing lives and making new discoveries.

The latest KEF results reflect this enduring mission and reflect the University's excellence in knowledge exchange.

Read more: tinyurl.com/y3juybef

This is the handmaid's tale

Has anyone commented on the brutality that it means to tell pregnant women that the only safe medicine they can take for pain relief might be (falsely) related to autism?

I'll have more to say on Reform's proposals to scrap ILR at some point but for now I'll just note this - anyone telling you this is a popular idea doesn't know the polling. Overwhelming majority of public back giving people who work and pay taxes most or all rights after 5 years or less

One really hard thing when you're a head of department is hiring people from outside the UK. You tell them, "congrats, you've got the job", and you wait to tell them, "by the way, the university doesn't cover the cost of your visa, or the cost of your NHS surcharge"

Contrast this with the fact that major UK news outlets keep using "hard right" for the far right despite basically every single expert on the topic telling them that it is wrong and potentially dangerous terminology...

Reform's plans to end indefinite leave to remain go to the post I wrote last week on their slide towards chaotic authoritarianism.

The British constitution would allow them to do it if they had a majority but at vast cost to our society and way of life.

samf.substack.com/p/the-route-...

3. Learning to Vote in Democratic and Authoritarian Elections by @anjaneundorf.bsky.social and Ksenia Northmore-Ball. (www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...)

2. The International Context of Democratic Backsliding: Rethinking the Role of Third Wave “Prodemocracy” Global Actors by David Samuels.
@davidjsamuels.bsky.social (www.cambridge.org/core/journal...)

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸! #3

1. The Forum: Global Challenges to Democracy? Perspectives on Democratic Backsliding (2023) by Larry Bartels, Ursula Daxecker, @sdhyde.bsky.social, @silindberg.bsky.social and Irfan Nooroding. (academic.oup.com/isr/article/...)

Too little, too late. But I'll still give it my 👍

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

When a centre-left government panders to anti-immigration rhetoric, it normalises actions like this.
And I bet that the vast majority of those marching won't vote Labour, regardless of how much the government tries to cater to them.

3. "A Populist Wave in the Making? The Radical Right's Attack on 'Gender Ideology' in Latin America" by Carlos de la Torre. I listened to Carlos' argument at APSA earlier this week and I think he's onto something interesting.
muse.jhu.edu/article/965789

2. "Unaffected polarization? Populism and affective polarization in comparative perspective" by @albertostefanelli.bsky.social and @bcastanho.bsky.social. A very counterintuitive finding, but supported by strong evidence. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸!
Week 2

1. "Pathways of Democratic Backsliding, Resistance, and (Partial) Recoveries" by @beattyriedl.bsky.social , @jennifermccoy.bsky.social, Ken Roberts and @muratsomer-eng.bsky.social. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

The 8am panel at APSA is clearly the "European slot"

I've just realised it's been 10 years since my last APSA.

Well deserved! It's a great book, I'll keep my fingers crossed