Seb Schmoller
@schmoller.net
Wrote/ran TUC courses for union reps. Led Sheffield College's educational IT. Led ALT. Did techish consulting. Now involved in Further/Adult Ed/School governance. Finishing a maths degree. Walking a Border Collie.
Politics, outdoors, cycling, Sheffield.
Politics, outdoors, cycling, Sheffield.
Pinned
Wood Ear fungi. (Intending to eat some of these later once ID 100% solid.)
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
A quick take on Warsh.
In terms of ideology and theory, at first glance he looks like a fairly standard pre-2008 'hawk' but he's perhaps closer to 80s monetarism: he thinks inflation is caused by government spending and money printing. 1/n
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
In terms of ideology and theory, at first glance he looks like a fairly standard pre-2008 'hawk' but he's perhaps closer to 80s monetarism: he thinks inflation is caused by government spending and money printing. 1/n
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
January 30, 2026 at 4:10 PM
A quick take on Warsh.
In terms of ideology and theory, at first glance he looks like a fairly standard pre-2008 'hawk' but he's perhaps closer to 80s monetarism: he thinks inflation is caused by government spending and money printing. 1/n
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
In terms of ideology and theory, at first glance he looks like a fairly standard pre-2008 'hawk' but he's perhaps closer to 80s monetarism: he thinks inflation is caused by government spending and money printing. 1/n
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
New analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine reveals that there were 4,757 deaths associated with long ED waits before admission in England last summer (1 June to 30 September 2025).
Watch our President Dr Ian Higginson on @itvnews.bsky.social's Rebecca Barry: www.itv.com/news/2026-01...
Watch our President Dr Ian Higginson on @itvnews.bsky.social's Rebecca Barry: www.itv.com/news/2026-01...
January 30, 2026 at 9:38 AM
New analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine reveals that there were 4,757 deaths associated with long ED waits before admission in England last summer (1 June to 30 September 2025).
Watch our President Dr Ian Higginson on @itvnews.bsky.social's Rebecca Barry: www.itv.com/news/2026-01...
Watch our President Dr Ian Higginson on @itvnews.bsky.social's Rebecca Barry: www.itv.com/news/2026-01...
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
It is quite striking that Konstantin Kisin simply denied (falsely) on BBC1 that he had said what he said, word for word, on his podcast.
Konstantin Kisin straight up lying on #bbcqt
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
January 30, 2026 at 3:37 PM
It is quite striking that Konstantin Kisin simply denied (falsely) on BBC1 that he had said what he said, word for word, on his podcast.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Honestly what is the point of having a programme that is *not* live if you are not going to use that function to aggressively factcheck the people on it?
It is quite striking that Konstantin Kisin simply denied (falsely) on BBC1 that he had said what he said, word for word, on his podcast.
Konstantin Kisin straight up lying on #bbcqt
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
January 30, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Honestly what is the point of having a programme that is *not* live if you are not going to use that function to aggressively factcheck the people on it?
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Konstantin Kisin straight up lying on #bbcqt
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
January 29, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Konstantin Kisin straight up lying on #bbcqt
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
Douglas Alexander: “When Fraser Nelson put it to you that Rishi Sunak is absolutely english… you said “he’s a brown Hindu, how is he english?”
Kisin: “No, that’s not what I said...”
On the enshittificatiom of international relations. Interesting @nytimes.com discussion between Henry Farrell and Ezra Klein glowing from Mark Carney's "most important foreign policy speech in years".
open.spotify.com/episode/5gZQ...
open.spotify.com/episode/5gZQ...
January 30, 2026 at 10:54 AM
On the enshittificatiom of international relations. Interesting @nytimes.com discussion between Henry Farrell and Ezra Klein glowing from Mark Carney's "most important foreign policy speech in years".
open.spotify.com/episode/5gZQ...
open.spotify.com/episode/5gZQ...
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
This is one of the most brilliant (and beautifully written) analyses of the dissolution and future of the UK's party system you will ever read. @prospectmagazine.co.uk is free to read at the moment, so I'd urge any of you with an interest in British politics to get hold of it as soon as you can.
The party is over
The glory days for Britain’s old parties are in the past. A new kind of politics is required
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
January 30, 2026 at 6:35 AM
This is one of the most brilliant (and beautifully written) analyses of the dissolution and future of the UK's party system you will ever read. @prospectmagazine.co.uk is free to read at the moment, so I'd urge any of you with an interest in British politics to get hold of it as soon as you can.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Hang on, I had missed the fact that the AI Skills Hub cost £4m. mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski... If this wasn't tax payers' money it would be quite funny. Also, can only assume PWC spent some time rolling around in gold because they did NOT spend it on building this
The UK paid £4.1 million for a bookmarks site
Or, as they like to call it, the 'AI Skills Hub'. Which was built by PwC because of course it was
mahadk.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Hang on, I had missed the fact that the AI Skills Hub cost £4m. mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski... If this wasn't tax payers' money it would be quite funny. Also, can only assume PWC spent some time rolling around in gold because they did NOT spend it on building this
The bear in a 20 section lace and embroidered panel. (Maybe Spanish; maybe late 16th / early 17th C.)
January 29, 2026 at 8:28 PM
The bear in a 20 section lace and embroidered panel. (Maybe Spanish; maybe late 16th / early 17th C.)
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
ICYMI: Cops put Microsoft Copilot in holding cell after controversial hallucination
Cops put Microsoft Copilot in holding cell after controversial hallucination
Chatbot banned – for now – after it dreamed up West Ham match that never happened
West Midlands Police's acting Chief Constable has suspended use of Microsoft Copilot following a controversy that led to the early retirement of his predecessor over a recommendation to ban Israeli football fans from a Birmingham match.…
dlvr.it
January 29, 2026 at 7:44 PM
ICYMI: Cops put Microsoft Copilot in holding cell after controversial hallucination
Enjoyable expert critique of the Capita-designed/run Civil Service Pension Scheme website, by Mark @radiobeartime.com O'Neil:
bearoneill.com/2026/01/29/b...
bearoneill.com/2026/01/29/b...
Bad
It’s unusual to come across a truly bad new digital service these days. People now praise the online passport service for speed and ease of use, the same for Jobseeker’s, voter registra…
bearoneill.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:19 PM
Enjoyable expert critique of the Capita-designed/run Civil Service Pension Scheme website, by Mark @radiobeartime.com O'Neil:
bearoneill.com/2026/01/29/b...
bearoneill.com/2026/01/29/b...
This by @alanbeattie.bsky.social is brutal.
My Trade Secrets today, in which it's fair to say I go off on one.
The Labour party is famously "a moral crusade or it is nothing". On aid, immigration and trade they're going for the latter option, with betrayals of principle both repugnant and pointless. 1/n
The Labour party is famously "a moral crusade or it is nothing". On aid, immigration and trade they're going for the latter option, with betrayals of principle both repugnant and pointless. 1/n
The abandonment of Labour’s moral crusade
[FREE TO READ] The UK is taking a cynical but fruitless turn to the reactionary and insular on aid, immigration and trade
as.ft.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:28 PM
This by @alanbeattie.bsky.social is brutal.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Friendly reminder that Trump's border czar Tom Homan allegedly *coughs loudly in bullshit* accepted $50,000 in cash in a Cava bag... from an undercover FBI agent during a long-running counterintelligence operation.
THERE'S AN AUDIOTAPE OF IT GOING DOWN.
Trump's DOJ closed the investigation.
THERE'S AN AUDIOTAPE OF IT GOING DOWN.
Trump's DOJ closed the investigation.
January 29, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Friendly reminder that Trump's border czar Tom Homan allegedly *coughs loudly in bullshit* accepted $50,000 in cash in a Cava bag... from an undercover FBI agent during a long-running counterintelligence operation.
THERE'S AN AUDIOTAPE OF IT GOING DOWN.
Trump's DOJ closed the investigation.
THERE'S AN AUDIOTAPE OF IT GOING DOWN.
Trump's DOJ closed the investigation.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
At the risk of preaching not just to the choir but to the house of bishops, for my New Statesman column this week I have written about leaving Twitter a year ago, and how surreal it's been watching people make excuses for sharing a site with an AI sex pest tool
www.newstatesman.com/culture/soci...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/soci...
How I quit Elon Musk’s toxic online playground
X abandoned me long before I abandoned it
www.newstatesman.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:55 AM
At the risk of preaching not just to the choir but to the house of bishops, for my New Statesman column this week I have written about leaving Twitter a year ago, and how surreal it's been watching people make excuses for sharing a site with an AI sex pest tool
www.newstatesman.com/culture/soci...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/soci...
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
I'm not against this idea, if it works. But citing EEF evidence about the proven benefits of 1:1 tutoring with a human tutor is sketchily supportive of the initiative at best. (It's not as if DFE hasn't gone deeply and unsuccessfully into the personalisation rabbit-hole at least once before.)
January 28, 2026 at 2:12 PM
I'm not against this idea, if it works. But citing EEF evidence about the proven benefits of 1:1 tutoring with a human tutor is sketchily supportive of the initiative at best. (It's not as if DFE hasn't gone deeply and unsuccessfully into the personalisation rabbit-hole at least once before.)
Underlying this thread by @hetanshah.bsky.social is a an argument about the crucial cultural and scientific importance of libraries and archives. It starts two months ago and is well worth reading.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Underlying this thread by @hetanshah.bsky.social is a an argument about the crucial cultural and scientific importance of libraries and archives. It starts two months ago and is well worth reading.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
The Green Party has claimed figures from a projection show “only the Greens can stop Reform” in Gorton and Denton.
This is misleading. The model cited suggests Reform and the Greens will increase vote share the most, but currently projects a Labour win.
This is misleading. The model cited suggests Reform and the Greens will increase vote share the most, but currently projects a Labour win.
Green Party by-election bar chart claim is misleading – Full Fact
An image shared by the party and its leader Zack Polanski claims figures from a projection show “only the Greens can stop Reform” in Gorton and Denton, even though the model suggests Labour will win.
fullfact.org
January 28, 2026 at 12:02 PM
The Green Party has claimed figures from a projection show “only the Greens can stop Reform” in Gorton and Denton.
This is misleading. The model cited suggests Reform and the Greens will increase vote share the most, but currently projects a Labour win.
This is misleading. The model cited suggests Reform and the Greens will increase vote share the most, but currently projects a Labour win.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
The Labour Government announced world-leading legislation to ban the exploitation of NDAs for victims of harassment and discrimination.
Today I pressed them to introduce the legislation and ensure that all such gagging clauses are banned.
Today I pressed them to introduce the legislation and ensure that all such gagging clauses are banned.
January 28, 2026 at 2:17 PM
The Labour Government announced world-leading legislation to ban the exploitation of NDAs for victims of harassment and discrimination.
Today I pressed them to introduce the legislation and ensure that all such gagging clauses are banned.
Today I pressed them to introduce the legislation and ensure that all such gagging clauses are banned.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Indeed. It is right to cry ‘wolf’ at the sight of a real wolf.
January 28, 2026 at 1:38 PM
Indeed. It is right to cry ‘wolf’ at the sight of a real wolf.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Jewish descendent of holocaust victims and survivors here.
What he said was fine.
Neighbours hiding minority children from uniformed government thugs in service to a nativist agenda is bad enough.
I'm sure Anne would have preferred people spoke up BEFORE the Nazis got to the death camps stage.
What he said was fine.
Neighbours hiding minority children from uniformed government thugs in service to a nativist agenda is bad enough.
I'm sure Anne would have preferred people spoke up BEFORE the Nazis got to the death camps stage.
The Minnesota governor is getting widespread criticism for comparing children dealing with immigration enforcement to Holocaust victim Anne Frank.
Tim Walz condemned for comparing Minnesota children to Anne Frank
The Minnesota governor is getting widespread criticism for comparing children dealing with immigration enforcement to Holocaust victim Anne Frank.
bit.ly
January 28, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Jewish descendent of holocaust victims and survivors here.
What he said was fine.
Neighbours hiding minority children from uniformed government thugs in service to a nativist agenda is bad enough.
I'm sure Anne would have preferred people spoke up BEFORE the Nazis got to the death camps stage.
What he said was fine.
Neighbours hiding minority children from uniformed government thugs in service to a nativist agenda is bad enough.
I'm sure Anne would have preferred people spoke up BEFORE the Nazis got to the death camps stage.
Reposted by Seb Schmoller
Congrats to the Lib Dems for their successful local elections campaign.
January 28, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Congrats to the Lib Dems for their successful local elections campaign.