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Reposted by Martin Lewis

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 6h

Home Sec describes a widely held public perception (UK is the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe) + endorses it as true. Home Office data shows it is not true. Whatever merits of her policy change, should not make false factual claims
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...

Migrants come to Britain because they think we're Europe's most generous country

TODAY’S small boat numbers are shameful, and the British people deserve better. They contain a lesson: we must go further and faster to secure our borders. Under the last Conservative Government, t…

www.thesun.co.uk

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Reposted by Martin Lewis

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 1d

The US Administration is nuking PhD programs around our country, including Harvard’s. The damage will be vast and permanent.

jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 1d

Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs

- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero

Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...

www.thecrimson.com

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 2d

Not sure that Labour's big win last year ever felt nailed on, but Chris Mullin is absolutely right about Reeves' tax timidity as the root cause of the government's inability to deliver change at anything other than a snail's pace.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Tories set a tax trap and Rachel Reeves walked straight into it. It may be her defining mistake | Chris Mullin

By taking Jeremy Hunt’s NI cuts and ruling out other rises, Labour tried to out-Tory the Tories. And made a bad situation worse, says former Labour minister Chris Mullin

www.theguardian.com

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 2d

Yes but..we need a sustainable funding model for our once world-class HE sector. Our universities compensate for the low level of private sector investment in R&D. It's not just about undergraduate teaching.

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Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · 7d

Once unthinkable, NASA and Lockheed now consider launching Orion on other rockets

“We’re trying to crawl, then walk, then run into our reuse strategy.”…

arstechnica.com

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Reposted by Martin Lewis

BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 8d

The Green Party is expected to have more Members than the Conservative Party by the end of the week.

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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 8d

This is absolutely nuts. As well as racist, xenophobic, deeply offensive and entirely ineffective.

The Independent @the-independent.com · 9d

Migrants will need A-level standard English to work in UK

www.independent.co.uk

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 10d

With apologies to whomever created this.

Nous en avons assez des experts.

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Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 11d

This is very much worth reading by @andrewduffeu.bsky.social . It is not 2016 anymore. The world has changed and so has the EU. Which means that Britain AND EU member States should review their experience of Brexit. verfassungsblog.de/the-case-for...

The Case for a Royal Commission on Britain and Europe

verfassungsblog.de

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Fury as EU treats Britain as if it were no longer a member of the EU.

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Do you know why the NHS is limiting this seasonal booster to over 75s? I'm just a few years before the threshold and struggling to find pharmacies offering a paid vaccination.

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 13d

Also, if you're "in bed with flu", it's almost certainly Covid.

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 13d

After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season.

TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...

England is now experiencing a significant Covid wave, after 10 months of relative quiet

The latest Covid situation in England and a look at where NHS services are as we head into winter

christinapagel.substack.com

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Yes, well done. You're right about "the CU" vs "a CU" as we're an ex-MS. Though the SM is where the bigger benefits lie, I think.

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Can you clarify why another referendum would be politically necessary for this, given our national distaste for them? The only reason I can think of is the ill-advised red lines in the 2024 Lab manifesto.

Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

I don't agree that it's the same as rejoining the EU. It's often overlooked that Norway had a referendum on joining, with a very similar outcome. It isn't in the CU, of course, but a bespoke CU for the UK would be conceivable given its size.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12d

Car shoppers have long waited for Tesla to release cheaper EVs. The company finally did so this week, and even Elon Musk's biggest fans are disappointed, writes Patrick George.

It’s All Catching Up to Tesla

Elon Musk’s embrace of Donald Trump continues to haunt his car company.

bit.ly

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

The appetite in most of the rest of the EU for a pan-European security framework might mitigate hostility to the UK re-entering the SM and CU, and I'm not sure that the UK is precisely *any* third country, given that it is, in fact, in Europe.

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Yes. But, crucially, consistent with the 2016 referendum outcome. Sadly, don't think this government has the vision and energy to drive it through - or they'd never have adopted Theresa May's ludicrous red lines. Perhaps a 2029 Lab/LD/Green coalition might take it on.

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Rejoining the SM and CU could surely deliver most of the benefits without a referendum. It might not be a stable position in the longer term, but if it delivered growth and restored freedoms quickly enough, could not the predictable political turbulence be weathered?

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Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 12d

I’m teaching first-year students this quarter, and I was trying to remember how I felt in my first weeks of college. I had completely forgotten that I was so miserably homesick that I considered dropping out.

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Labour won't win unless it commits to reversing the rampant bigotry against trans people following the Supreme Court ruling, which has caused real distress to trans ppl & damaged the UK's international reputation. Bridget Phillipson's response to this as equality minister has been wholly inadequate.

LabourList @labourlist.bsky.social · 13d

"We won’t win with a deputy leader on the outside, throwing rocks and with no clout."

Bridget Phillipson hits out at rival Lucy Powell as Labour members cast ballot in deputy leadership election

Phillipson hits out at Powell, warning against deputy leader ‘with no clout’ – LabourList

Education Secretary and deputy leadership hopeful Bridget Phillipson has hit out at her rival Lucy Powell as members cast their ballots in the contest. In…

labourlist.org

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 12d

Phillipson has failed to address the deep financial and structural issues in our once world-class higher education sector.

Reposted by Martin Lewis

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 13d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Helen Johnston @hj4euinspain.bsky.social · 14d

New report finds UK’s top scientific institutions have inadequate institutional defences to prevent potential political interference.
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/str...

@yorkshirebylines.co.uk
@grassrootsforeurope.org
@chrischirp.bsky.social

Strengthening the institutions we rely on

A new report finds that the UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

yorkshirebylines.co.uk

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Martin Lewis @martinnhw.bsky.social · 14d

Today I was reminded that, just 20 years after the end of the Second World War, 2 crewed spacecraft rendezvoused in low earth orbit. That was 60 years ago. Time is definitely not linear.