Declan Gaffney
@greyskiesthinking.bsky.social
Research, analysis & grey-skies thinking on labour markets, social security, public finance & equality. Usual disclaimer. Cheap foreign labour 🇮🇪. Profile pic is Takashi Shimura with Toshiro Mifune in Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa, 1949).
Pinned
If all young people deferred having children until they could meet the entire cost of raising them, there'd be no workers to pay for pensions in thirty years time.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
👇🍟why didn't anybody tell me about this?!
November 26, 2025 at 9:45 AM
👇🍟why didn't anybody tell me about this?!
This is the key point isn't it? Even making allowances for 'language of the time' no one likes a racist school bully.
“Being called a Paki isn’t hurtful?” asks Cyrus Oshidar, who was in Farage's year. He tells Guardian he recognises that it was “the language of that time” (1980). “He wasn’t the only one saying it. But he was the only one in Dulwich saying it regularly”, he says
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Three more ex-pupils at school with Nigel Farage reject ‘banter’ claims
Exclusive: Dulwich college contemporaries ‘rubbish’ Reform UK leader’s suggestion alleged racist taunts not intended to hurt
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:01 PM
This is the key point isn't it? Even making allowances for 'language of the time' no one likes a racist school bully.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
pretty much every long-time Labour volunteer I know is seriously considering whether to vote Green or Lib Dem.
It is amazingly horrifying in how little Labour leaders have zero, even negative faith in the values that their party's supposed to stand for. I have the deepest sympathies for the party ground floor workers and supporters who're disgusted by this grotesque betrayal of their values. It's despairing.
November 25, 2025 at 8:53 PM
pretty much every long-time Labour volunteer I know is seriously considering whether to vote Green or Lib Dem.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
In Italian there is a say: ‘a uno str*nzo non puoi dirgli stupidino. Gli devi dire st*onzo, o si fa delle illusioni’.
😄
😄
I really wish we'd stop calling them climate "skeptics" or "vaccine skeptics", if you jump off a cliff we don't call you a "gravity skeptic"
November 25, 2025 at 8:49 PM
In Italian there is a say: ‘a uno str*nzo non puoi dirgli stupidino. Gli devi dire st*onzo, o si fa delle illusioni’.
😄
😄
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.
bloom.bg
November 25, 2025 at 7:52 PM
EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
One of the big mistakes the left made was branding tax credits as corporate welfare.
You need cash transfers as well as a minimum wage because different people have different financial needs.
A minimum wage high enough to support three kids and a disabled spouse is not a sensible minimum wage.
You need cash transfers as well as a minimum wage because different people have different financial needs.
A minimum wage high enough to support three kids and a disabled spouse is not a sensible minimum wage.
This is another thing I had to cut from my piece - the minimum wage is best understood as an anti-poverty measure *for single or childless couples at the start of their working lives*. But it's not a lever that helps most people struggling to make ends meet. Only cash transfers do that.
Why the two-child limit has to go, in a chart.
November 25, 2025 at 7:34 PM
One of the big mistakes the left made was branding tax credits as corporate welfare.
You need cash transfers as well as a minimum wage because different people have different financial needs.
A minimum wage high enough to support three kids and a disabled spouse is not a sensible minimum wage.
You need cash transfers as well as a minimum wage because different people have different financial needs.
A minimum wage high enough to support three kids and a disabled spouse is not a sensible minimum wage.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Supporters of Ireland's planning system say it is wonderfully democratic. But here is a major project supported by repeated democratically-elected governments and put through a rigorous planning process (including plenty of public input) being stopped by 20 people. That's not democracy. It's chaos.
Dublin’s €10 billion MetroLink to face legal challenge from group of 20 Ranelagh residents
Judicial review could delay planned 18.8km line running from Swords to Dublin Airport and through city centre
www.irishtimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Supporters of Ireland's planning system say it is wonderfully democratic. But here is a major project supported by repeated democratically-elected governments and put through a rigorous planning process (including plenty of public input) being stopped by 20 people. That's not democracy. It's chaos.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
A small but significant step: Dutch national broadcaster NOS is leaving X.
“The volume of hateful comments and disinformation on X is enormous and flows freely. This also applies under our own posts, meaning we unintentionally contribute to their spread”
over.nos.nl/nieuws/nos-p...
“The volume of hateful comments and disinformation on X is enormous and flows freely. This also applies under our own posts, meaning we unintentionally contribute to their spread”
over.nos.nl/nieuws/nos-p...
NOS plaatst vanaf vandaag geen nieuwsberichten meer op X - Over NOS
De NOS en Nieuwsuur (NOS/NTR) zijn gestopt met posten op X. Het platform past niet meer bij onze visie op...
over.nos.nl
November 25, 2025 at 11:13 AM
A small but significant step: Dutch national broadcaster NOS is leaving X.
“The volume of hateful comments and disinformation on X is enormous and flows freely. This also applies under our own posts, meaning we unintentionally contribute to their spread”
over.nos.nl/nieuws/nos-p...
“The volume of hateful comments and disinformation on X is enormous and flows freely. This also applies under our own posts, meaning we unintentionally contribute to their spread”
over.nos.nl/nieuws/nos-p...
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Don’t want to be too moralistic about this, but it is an active disgrace what people are doing to a profoundly liberational scheme that costs relatively piddling amounts on the basis of a couple of right wing shitposters misrepresenting it on Twitter.
November 25, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Don’t want to be too moralistic about this, but it is an active disgrace what people are doing to a profoundly liberational scheme that costs relatively piddling amounts on the basis of a couple of right wing shitposters misrepresenting it on Twitter.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
RF are pro MW, but we agree it's 2nd order to benefits in tackling poverty. Big fight with Osborne over that re tax credit cuts in 2015.
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
November 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
RF are pro MW, but we agree it's 2nd order to benefits in tackling poverty. Big fight with Osborne over that re tax credit cuts in 2015.
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Sometimes wonder if what the UK needs is a thinktank that doesn't do any new research, it just repeats obviously true statements that people try to ignore because they're inconvenient.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
November 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Sometimes wonder if what the UK needs is a thinktank that doesn't do any new research, it just repeats obviously true statements that people try to ignore because they're inconvenient.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
This is so odd, because he's not saying he's the most corrupt, just that he's the most open about it, and surely that's not even debatable?
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 1:06 PM
This is so odd, because he's not saying he's the most corrupt, just that he's the most open about it, and surely that's not even debatable?
Much to agree with here, notably on Labour's bewildering lack of interest in what 2010-24 governments actually did in policy terms. But this - something we have known for well over a century! - just cannot be repeated too often.
November 25, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Much to agree with here, notably on Labour's bewildering lack of interest in what 2010-24 governments actually did in policy terms. But this - something we have known for well over a century! - just cannot be repeated too often.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Teddy Wilson, Jazz Pianist, #BornOnThisDay in 1912, in Austin, Texas
(cc @glennkenny.bsky.social)
‘Prisoner of Love’: youtu.be/yJb-03xp2ZU?...
(cc @glennkenny.bsky.social)
‘Prisoner of Love’: youtu.be/yJb-03xp2ZU?...
November 25, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Teddy Wilson, Jazz Pianist, #BornOnThisDay in 1912, in Austin, Texas
(cc @glennkenny.bsky.social)
‘Prisoner of Love’: youtu.be/yJb-03xp2ZU?...
(cc @glennkenny.bsky.social)
‘Prisoner of Love’: youtu.be/yJb-03xp2ZU?...
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Has no one in the BBC heard of the Streisand effect?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
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 9:56 AM
Has no one in the BBC heard of the Streisand effect?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Imagine praising "Latino parents are now so afraid to be seen out and about that they have a rota to walk the Latino children" and not wondering where your humanity went?
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Imagine praising "Latino parents are now so afraid to be seen out and about that they have a rota to walk the Latino children" and not wondering where your humanity went?
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81
Star of The Harder They Come had hits including You Can Get It If You Really Want and I Can See Clearly Now
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
In the 15 years Labour have entertained Glasman, I cannot think of one single occasion where he has publicly criticised attacks on working class people, shown working class people solidarity, supported a single working class struggle.
He has enjoyed being a Lord though.
He has enjoyed being a Lord though.
November 23, 2025 at 4:05 PM
In the 15 years Labour have entertained Glasman, I cannot think of one single occasion where he has publicly criticised attacks on working class people, shown working class people solidarity, supported a single working class struggle.
He has enjoyed being a Lord though.
He has enjoyed being a Lord though.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Fairly sure Bevin would tell him to fuck off.
November 23, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Fairly sure Bevin would tell him to fuck off.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
what a surprise, majority of fash "Ireland is full" posts on shitter are from outside Ireland
November 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
what a surprise, majority of fash "Ireland is full" posts on shitter are from outside Ireland
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
It’s hilarious and revelatory that a bunch of giant MAGA/America First X accounts are actually based in Eastern Europe and Nigeria.
Top MAGA Influencers Accidentally Unmasked as Foreign Actors
A new feature on Elon Musk’s X has given deeper insight into the online “America First” movement.
www.thedailybeast.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:07 PM
It’s hilarious and revelatory that a bunch of giant MAGA/America First X accounts are actually based in Eastern Europe and Nigeria.
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
Scrapping the two-child limit *is* welfare reform. Defining ‘reform’ solely as ‘cut’ is one reason why it’s proved so difficult
November 23, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Scrapping the two-child limit *is* welfare reform. Defining ‘reform’ solely as ‘cut’ is one reason why it’s proved so difficult
Reposted by Declan Gaffney
The fact that in both 2019 and 2024, the winning party did so with a set of manifesto promises that could not be kept and dissolved upon contact with actual office is something that as an industry we should be much more bothered by than we are.
November 23, 2025 at 12:35 PM
The fact that in both 2019 and 2024, the winning party did so with a set of manifesto promises that could not be kept and dissolved upon contact with actual office is something that as an industry we should be much more bothered by than we are.