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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 23h

That's a very funny story! And it obviously worked - she (eventually) took your father's advice!

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Reposted by Robert Saunders

Philip Cowley @philipjcowley.bsky.social · 1d

A reminder: people say "guru" because it uses fewer characters than "charlatan". But still, do come along...

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

We'll be exploring the Thatcher legacy & her impact on British politics today at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social on 20 Oct.

With former Thatcher minister, Gillian Shephard; Conservative peer Simone Finn; legendary politics guru @philipjcowley.bsky.social & me.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/still-that...

Still “Thatcher’s Britain”? The Thatcher Legacy, 1925-2025

Join the Mile End Institute to explore why Margaret Thatcher continues to cast such a shadow across British politics!

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

I couldn't make prestidigitator fit.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

We'll be exploring the Thatcher legacy & her impact on British politics today at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social on 20 Oct.

With former Thatcher minister, Gillian Shephard; Conservative peer Simone Finn; legendary politics guru @philipjcowley.bsky.social & me.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/still-that...

Still “Thatcher’s Britain”? The Thatcher Legacy, 1925-2025

Join the Mile End Institute to explore why Margaret Thatcher continues to cast such a shadow across British politics!

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Reposted by Robert Saunders

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

Thatcher was born 100 years ago and her reign feels a lifetime away. Why is her effect on the country still so huge? | Martin Kettle

Today’s politicians need to learn that she is not the answer to contemporary problems, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Robert Saunders

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 3d

A reminder that this week the Conservatives announced they want a “British ICE”

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 3d

Um, ICE just coldly shot an unarmed PRIEST in the head w a pepper ball when he (and everyone around him) clearly posed no threat.

For the crime of … complaining about government policy.

Core 1A speech.

With cameras rolling, they’re sniping priests for sport.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 3d

Here’s video of the incident

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

I'm less convinced by that: Starmer had a distinguished career outside politics; Sunak & Hunt both had successful business careers; & importing ministers like Lord Sugar doesn't have a great record. Politicians need to learn their own trade, but they need to learn it more slowly over a longer period

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

There's certainly no guarantee that experience will produce effective ministers. (Look at Chris Grayling). But the same individual will almost certainly be better qualified to govern with experience than without it.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, it's no fluke that one of the few ministers who seems to have a clear idea of what he wants to do & how to do it is the one who's been in & around the frontbench for 20 yrs & served in this dept before.

In a sane world he'd be a candidate for the leadership *after* this experience, not before.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

Rishi Sunak is clearly a talented man. But he went from new MP to former prime minister in 9 years. By the same stage in her career, Margaret Thatcher was Shadow Minister for Transport, having held a series of junior ministerial and shadow roles!

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

It's hard to see how recent Cabinets *could* be as effective as before, when very few ministers now have any previous ministerial experience, when political careers are so short & when they're reshuffled so often.

I suspect the problem is less one of talent than of the structures that train it.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 2d

Very glad that you and your son enjoyed it!

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, we’ll be posting the video.

Reposted by Robert Saunders

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 2d

Big presence on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 too.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 2d

From Donald Trump's Roundtable on Antifa just now —
"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."
— special guest Jack Posobiec

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 2d

Very good to talk to you, too. And you're right - David is quite the polymath!

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 2d

Standing room only for @ldfreedman.bsky.social's superb "Hennessy Lecture" at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social this evening, on "As long as it takes: What does it mean to commit to Ukraine's security?"

Really good questions from the audience, too. Thanks to everyone who came.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

The "line to take" for Badenoch's supporters seems to be "we've changed leaders too often in the past".

So which of those leaders should *not* have been removed?

Liz Truss? IDS? May, after those huge defeats? Johnson, despite lying to Parliament?

The problem isn't the firing. It's everything else

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

It could be, but that would be true of Tories of that generation too. But it was always hard to praise the 70s if you wanted to claim that your party had rescued the nation in the 80s.

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

Yes, it's curious, isn't it!

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

It would be very good to have you there!

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

Excellent letter from the Bishop of Birmingham to Robert Jenrick.

At a time when so many other voices have been silent, the bishops have been admirably outspoken against attempts to stir up division.

The churches do a lot of community cohesion work & do not want to see this trashed for party gain.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 3d

The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

It's interesting that Farage often speaks warmly of the 1970s, which goes against the Thatcherite idea of a "seventies crisis" from which her government rescued the country.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

Still, a good opportunity to advertise our next event at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social on 20 October:

"Still Thatcher's Britain? The Thatcher Legacy, 1925-2025".

Featuring Gillian Shephard, Simone Finn, @philipjcowley.bsky.social and me.
www.qmul.ac.uk/mei/events/m...

Still “Thatcher’s Britain”? The Thatcher Legacy, 1925-2025

www.qmul.ac.uk

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

As a historian, I'm all for parties trying to learn from their past.

But living traditions, that are engaged in the present and optimistic about the future, do not spend this much time at the political ouija-board.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 4d

"Thatcher theatre" - pretty much sums up cul-de-sac into which the Conservative Party has driven itself in the decades since her defenestration. And now it too, risks becoming a museum piece, fit only for two or three glass display cases rather than a return to office.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you! I often use your work in my teaching, so am delighted you enjoyed this.

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