Euan Healey
@euanhealey.bsky.social
PhD historian and archaeologist of labour, subsistence, fisheries and environment at the University of Glasgow.
Antifascist & trade unionist. Baggies, Jags, Warriors, Canucks. Pilgrim through this barren land. he/him.
Antifascist & trade unionist. Baggies, Jags, Warriors, Canucks. Pilgrim through this barren land. he/him.
Pinned
Euan Healey
@euanhealey.bsky.social
· May 19
The odd thing about UK fisheries is that we export a lot of mackerel and import a lot of cod and haddock. When did this start? Once upon a time did we eat a lot of mackerel?
Big day to be a fisheries historian (fishtorian). Big day.
When it comes to oily fish, the export market has always been the focus of British commerical fishing. Prior to the First World War, British fishing was dominated by the North Sea herring fishing; herring outweighed every other fish (1/?)
When it comes to oily fish, the export market has always been the focus of British commerical fishing. Prior to the First World War, British fishing was dominated by the North Sea herring fishing; herring outweighed every other fish (1/?)
Quick look at the economics of women's rugby
November 26, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Quick look at the economics of women's rugby
Reposted by Euan Healey
My taxes bring all the boys to the yard.
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
November 25, 2025 at 11:55 AM
My taxes bring all the boys to the yard.
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
Reposted by Euan Healey
If the government abolishes trial by jury and recreates the Star Chamber, can the revisionist Civil War historians claim it as REFable Impact?
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
If the government abolishes trial by jury and recreates the Star Chamber, can the revisionist Civil War historians claim it as REFable Impact?
Reposted by Euan Healey
Given how the BBC has self-censored under pressure from the English far right, this is sadly not surprising at all.
At the same time, open racists continue to be invited as “experts” and given free reign.
At the same time, open racists continue to be invited as “experts” and given free reign.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Given how the BBC has self-censored under pressure from the English far right, this is sadly not surprising at all.
At the same time, open racists continue to be invited as “experts” and given free reign.
At the same time, open racists continue to be invited as “experts” and given free reign.
Reposted by Euan Healey
At the moment CPO is essentially reserved for "this infrastructure literally can't go anywhere else" and it needs expanding to "your lack of ambition demonstrates you don't deserve to own this land, so we need to give you the lowest sum possible to agree to bugger off".
November 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
At the moment CPO is essentially reserved for "this infrastructure literally can't go anywhere else" and it needs expanding to "your lack of ambition demonstrates you don't deserve to own this land, so we need to give you the lowest sum possible to agree to bugger off".
Global History is one of the most exciting areas of critical work at the moment for precisely the reason that it's blowing open parochialism across the whole field, and shattering base assumptions about today's world. It's brilliant.
A regular criticism I get from that kind of person is to say that 'we have tried this for the last 30 years and look where we are now', which even before 'I mean, 2025 is not so bad in the sweep of human history'...why do you think globalisation is a 30 year thing??
some of what they hate is globalisation, which like, what do you want me to do about that? uninvent oil tankers?
November 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Global History is one of the most exciting areas of critical work at the moment for precisely the reason that it's blowing open parochialism across the whole field, and shattering base assumptions about today's world. It's brilliant.
Reposted by Euan Healey
Standing athwart the Silk Road yelling stop.
November 24, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Standing athwart the Silk Road yelling stop.
Reposted by Euan Healey
As a Lithuanian I do not understand these attitudes at all tbh. When we regained our independence, there were quite a few statues we promptly destroyed. When Syrians overthrew Assad, they knocked down his statues. Why is knocking statues down or altering them purportedly in itself bad?
'Responding to the decision, Devine, 80, said: “In principle I am opposed to changing historic artefacts to suit today’s tastes. To do so is presentism, imposing 20th-century values on those of the distant past.'
'20th-century'? Bit of an own goal Sir T.
'20th-century'? Bit of an own goal Sir T.
Historian attacks ‘ludicrous’ changes to statues with slavery links
Professor Sir Tom Devine, an emeritus professor at Edinburgh University, said he was opposed to changing artefacts to suit modern sensibilities
www.thetimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:51 AM
As a Lithuanian I do not understand these attitudes at all tbh. When we regained our independence, there were quite a few statues we promptly destroyed. When Syrians overthrew Assad, they knocked down his statues. Why is knocking statues down or altering them purportedly in itself bad?
Reposted by Euan Healey
The worst way - and since covid we've seen that privatisation is *also* irrelevant to this in the other direction - is when it has to compete with the other spending priorities, because it will usually lose to *roads*, let alone hospitals, schools or pensions.
November 24, 2025 at 11:12 AM
The worst way - and since covid we've seen that privatisation is *also* irrelevant to this in the other direction - is when it has to compete with the other spending priorities, because it will usually lose to *roads*, let alone hospitals, schools or pensions.
Shocked to hear this government doesn't have a coherent vision and is instead just choosing taxation levers and working backwards irrelevant of consequence
The second problem with this — after the fact that it will bankrupt a bunch of institutions — is that the government doesn’t seem to know if it wants to a) raise lots of money from intentional students or b) discourage universities from relying on international students. You can’t have both!!
These are HEPI estimates of the 20 institutions affected: I think this illustrates the impact if the tariff is absorbed in full by institutions.
What share of the 6% tariff different universities may try to pass on to fees - or the impact might be on demand if they did - is not publicly known.
What share of the 6% tariff different universities may try to pass on to fees - or the impact might be on demand if they did - is not publicly known.
November 24, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Shocked to hear this government doesn't have a coherent vision and is instead just choosing taxation levers and working backwards irrelevant of consequence
Reposted by Euan Healey
November 24, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Some game that was 🏴
November 18, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Some game that was 🏴
Reposted by Euan Healey
She also pointed out that asylum seekers were “abusing our generosity” which is language straight from X, a formulation of words Katie Lam has also used. It’s very clear what brine Mahmood is pickling in.
November 18, 2025 at 1:48 PM
She also pointed out that asylum seekers were “abusing our generosity” which is language straight from X, a formulation of words Katie Lam has also used. It’s very clear what brine Mahmood is pickling in.
Being unable to remember the name or artist of an album you really enjoyed listening to several months ago (instrumental jazz from the UK scene) and there being no way of looking back that far on Spotify so having to request your entire data history from the company as a work around to find it
November 18, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Being unable to remember the name or artist of an album you really enjoyed listening to several months ago (instrumental jazz from the UK scene) and there being no way of looking back that far on Spotify so having to request your entire data history from the company as a work around to find it
Reposted by Euan Healey
Coverage of the refugee proposals demonstrates why we have such a broken political system. Endless focus on left-wing anger and right-wing support. Basically nothing on whether the reforms will work. They will not, which is why we'll still be here having the same debate in three years.
November 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Coverage of the refugee proposals demonstrates why we have such a broken political system. Endless focus on left-wing anger and right-wing support. Basically nothing on whether the reforms will work. They will not, which is why we'll still be here having the same debate in three years.
This is great - Ice Hockey deserves loads more attention than it gets here. Not only are the leagues here actually pretty high standard (ovs caveat that N America signif better than everywhere else), UK teams have really strong followings and sell out stadiums inside shopping centres nationwide.
for this month's Observer sports column! I went to Romford to watch some ice hockey by myself and I had........the time of my life? observer.co.uk/news/columni... [free to read!]
November 18, 2025 at 11:47 AM
This is great - Ice Hockey deserves loads more attention than it gets here. Not only are the leagues here actually pretty high standard (ovs caveat that N America signif better than everywhere else), UK teams have really strong followings and sell out stadiums inside shopping centres nationwide.
Sure this will settle things down
November 18, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Sure this will settle things down
This is absolutely grim both as an attack on an ethnic minority and their right to freedom of religion. If you want to see this at Britain's multivariate black churches and mosques, you might be a policymaker for any of our three main parties.
"Agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, ERO, and CBP intend to implement a comprehensive plan to target Spanish-speaking churches across the country during the upcoming holiday season between Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and Christmas, Dec. 25."
Exclusive: Trump DHS Plans Immigration Raids on Churches Over Holidays
The Trump Dept. of Homeland Security is briefing federal agencies on plans for immigration enforcement operations inside churches over holidays.
thisweekinworcester.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is absolutely grim both as an attack on an ethnic minority and their right to freedom of religion. If you want to see this at Britain's multivariate black churches and mosques, you might be a policymaker for any of our three main parties.
Reposted by Euan Healey
Agree. In practice the reason why it won't happen is what it would delegitimise is 'Labour's 2024 election campaign and subsequent strategic choices', which are increasingly IMO the tail that is wagging the dog.
I think the conventional wisdom that switching to PR, even explicitly to block Reform, would delegitimise the system is completely wrong. You would get buy-in from every other party, bar maybe the Tories, and it's historically the main reason electoral reform happens. www.jstor.org/stable/2585577
November 17, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Agree. In practice the reason why it won't happen is what it would delegitimise is 'Labour's 2024 election campaign and subsequent strategic choices', which are increasingly IMO the tail that is wagging the dog.
Me, visibly weeping: put Keir Starmer on Diary of a CEO
Honestly Polanski has had a lot of success doing this. The PM should clearly be appearing on The News Agents or The Rest Is Politics. The UK podcast eco-system is centerist (whereas lots of legacy media is not) so bias towards those formats would make sense.
November 17, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Me, visibly weeping: put Keir Starmer on Diary of a CEO
Reposted by Euan Healey
Are you a minister? Are you unhappy? Do you hate your job or have no idea what you're doing? Would you like the entire UK progressive media to praise you for the next 72 hours and talk about you as a future leadership contender? RESIGN!
November 17, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Are you a minister? Are you unhappy? Do you hate your job or have no idea what you're doing? Would you like the entire UK progressive media to praise you for the next 72 hours and talk about you as a future leadership contender? RESIGN!
Amid the news being quite a grim this read this morning (/year), this from @stephenkb.bsky.social made me legitimately laugh out loud.
November 17, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Amid the news being quite a grim this read this morning (/year), this from @stephenkb.bsky.social made me legitimately laugh out loud.
This is so performatively cruel, not to mention absolutely useless (immorality notwithstanding) one really does feel like the wheels could come off the Starmer project quite hard here. If they push forward with this, anyone running odds on cabinet level resignations?
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
November 17, 2025 at 9:46 AM
This is so performatively cruel, not to mention absolutely useless (immorality notwithstanding) one really does feel like the wheels could come off the Starmer project quite hard here. If they push forward with this, anyone running odds on cabinet level resignations?
Reposted by Euan Healey
again, this stuff is now so completely extreme it becomes distinct from the bog standard "control immigration" mugs etc of Labour leaders past - it becomes central to the turd we call Starmerism, and maybe, just maybe, it can be flushed, from Labour at least, when Starmerism is flushed too
November 15, 2025 at 10:28 PM
again, this stuff is now so completely extreme it becomes distinct from the bog standard "control immigration" mugs etc of Labour leaders past - it becomes central to the turd we call Starmerism, and maybe, just maybe, it can be flushed, from Labour at least, when Starmerism is flushed too
Three strikers subbed on? Not sure I ever thought I'd see kitchen sinkism from Steve Clarke
November 15, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Three strikers subbed on? Not sure I ever thought I'd see kitchen sinkism from Steve Clarke