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Reposted by Duncan Robinson

David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 9h

This is pretty damning. Is there anything that Starmer is actually good at on the domestic stage? substack.com/@geoffmulgan...

Eric Morecambe and the challenge of good government

Some of the right people, not necessarily in the right roles

substack.com

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 13h

Simply not what the piece says

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 13h

politicians choosing not to be political is precisely the problem I identify in the piece

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 13h

don't think that's a reasonable reading of it

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Reposted by Duncan Robinson

Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 14h

Great piece on how campaigning lawyers changed British politics

An underrated aspect of judicial review is it fuels centralisation. If campaigning lawyers convince a judge to give every mayor and council in the country a new statutory duty, local democracy dies a little more.

Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 17h

Law is politics by other means. Wrote about Leigh Day, the law firm that love suing the government www.economist.com/britain/2025...

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Reposted by Duncan Robinson

Matthew Aldridge @mpaldridge.bsky.social · 16h

"As Kanye West, an economist of sorts, put it: 'I’m tryin’ to right my wrongs/But it’s funny them same wrongs helped me write this song.'" www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Meet the real opposition

From ambulance chaser to ministerial Range Rover chaser

www.economist.com

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 14h

Thanks! Councils are a part of the British state of course. State doesn’t just mean national govt

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 15h

Exactly! So I don’t think calling it a simple common sense one is quite fair. It’s clearly complex

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 15h

Yup!

Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 15h

The lawyers are just being lawyers, sure. Although fact you lost at each stage until a split decision in Supreme Court suggests there was some debate about it among people much cleverer than me!

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 16h

“Strategic” in the sense that it was a massively important ruling via relatively novel means. The tree protection orders are whatever the Latin term is for “taking the piss”

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 16h

It calls for politicians to be political. You won’t like it

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 16h

Not sure what you’re on about here. It’s an observation that Leigh Day are very good at what they do

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 16h

Yeah it was a strategic approach aimed at keeping oil in the ground, doing it in a relatively novel way

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 17h

Law is politics by other means. Wrote about Leigh Day, the law firm that love suing the government www.economist.com/britain/2025...

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 17h

Wrote about Leigh Day, the law firm behind every other case against the British state right now. From equal pay to polluted rivers to alleged war crimes www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Meet the real opposition

From ambulance chaser to ministerial Range Rover chaser

www.economist.com

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 19h

Also, pubs in central London already close earlier than their licensed hours

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 19h

Everyday is a step closer to the ideal policy: universal basic pints

John Rowan @jrowanbxl.bsky.social · 19h

Giving pubs more choice about when they open and thereby patrons more choice about when they drink is...fine? But linking it to growth is mad (the link to public health is probably not that clear either).
www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Pubs to stay open until early hours in push for UK growth

Exclusive: Plans for England and Wales would help the ailing hospitality sector but have attracted criticism from health experts

www.theguardian.com

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 1d

Might sell it. Any offers? All proceeds to go to an illegal spa in my back garden

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 1d

“Can run, can’t catch”

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 1d

What is your half marathon time again

Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 1d

general vibe of bluesky is "shit at PE"

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 1d

We had the apparatus. Pulled out from the wall; I could never master rope climbing

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Reposted by Duncan Robinson

Archie Hall @archiehall.bsky.social · 2d

For the first time in about 70 years, net immigration to America could be zero. Beneath the noise of tariff and budget fights, migration may well be the biggest economic story of 2025.

My latest for @economist.com: Welcome to Zero Migration America

Link: www.economist.com/finance-and...

🧵 below

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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 2d

Boffins in the Boop Lab, experimenting for weeks until…Eureka: “boop”

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