Stephen Bush
@stephenkb.bsky.social
Associate editor and columnist @financialtimes.com. Post too often about culture, public policy, management, politics, nerd stuff, Arsenal, wosoc. Try my UK politics newsletter for free here: www.ft.com/tryinsidepolitics
Pinned
Stephen Bush
@stephenkb.bsky.social
· Feb 22
I sat through that so when my column gets factchecked I can say “yes, that line is accurate”. Such is the FT’s commitment to bringing you our best understanding of the truth. Subscribe here: subs.ft.com/products
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Frank Gehry, architect, dies aged 96 on.ft.com/49UCrTX
Frank Gehry, architect, dies aged 96
Modern master whose sinuous, billowing forms for the Guggenheim in Bilbao gave birth to the ‘Bilbao Effect’
on.ft.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Frank Gehry, architect, dies aged 96 on.ft.com/49UCrTX
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Got the 4yo a cookie in the local café. him to the waitress:"was this on the floor, like last time"? Me: ".....last time the cookie was on the house, it means free"
December 5, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Got the 4yo a cookie in the local café. him to the waitress:"was this on the floor, like last time"? Me: ".....last time the cookie was on the house, it means free"
Reposted by Stephen Bush
This is delicious - Jenrick took a risk doing a Lunch with the FT and he's elegantly skewered at every turn.
Robert Jenrick: ‘I’m unashamedly provincial in my attitudes’ on.ft.com/3KGRk1W
Robert Jenrick: ‘I’m unashamedly provincial in my attitudes’
The UK shadow justice secretary on embracing populism, his political ambitions — and whether there will be an alliance with Reform
on.ft.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:42 PM
This is delicious - Jenrick took a risk doing a Lunch with the FT and he's elegantly skewered at every turn.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
December 5, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Love a cable car. Once tried to persuade the good burghers of High Wycombe to build one from the coach station on the hill down to the railway
December 5, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Love a cable car. Once tried to persuade the good burghers of High Wycombe to build one from the coach station on the hill down to the railway
Reposted by Stephen Bush
This 🧵and the replies are delightful - my contribution would be a train composed of giant swans, like the ones in Mad King Ludwig's cavern
Bear with me, but I really think that something which would be good for the whole country would be if London had a few more, incredibly cynical “premium” bits of transport infrastructure that cost more to use but move tourists to tourist traps.
Some very confused Harry Potter-bound tourists on the train who had been informed by their AI of choice to take a Thameslink from Farringdon to Watford Junction.
December 5, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This 🧵and the replies are delightful - my contribution would be a train composed of giant swans, like the ones in Mad King Ludwig's cavern
Reposted by Stephen Bush
I don’t get how Jenrick can actually believe that we should shrink the population and then start making more of our own things from pots and pans to what iPhones? How does he think that happens?
December 5, 2025 at 9:45 PM
I don’t get how Jenrick can actually believe that we should shrink the population and then start making more of our own things from pots and pans to what iPhones? How does he think that happens?
Reposted by Stephen Bush
I suspect they're unfamiliar with how much their hated lanyard class actually helps things to get made nowadays. *Waves from my shiny engineering consultancy.*
December 5, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I suspect they're unfamiliar with how much their hated lanyard class actually helps things to get made nowadays. *Waves from my shiny engineering consultancy.*
Reposted by Stephen Bush
You would think that people who want to see the strength of British industry would look at something like the Sanger Centre with absolute awe. But it's in Cambridge and the people who work there have soft hands so 🤷
December 5, 2025 at 9:25 PM
You would think that people who want to see the strength of British industry would look at something like the Sanger Centre with absolute awe. But it's in Cambridge and the people who work there have soft hands so 🤷
Reposted by Stephen Bush
I sometimes wonder how Blue Laborites would square JP Morgan investing ~£160 million to open one of its largest offices in the world (and it's global technology centre), with the fact they did so *in inner Glasgow*
What more proof do you want that Britain's strength in services can pay dividends
What more proof do you want that Britain's strength in services can pay dividends
December 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM
I sometimes wonder how Blue Laborites would square JP Morgan investing ~£160 million to open one of its largest offices in the world (and it's global technology centre), with the fact they did so *in inner Glasgow*
What more proof do you want that Britain's strength in services can pay dividends
What more proof do you want that Britain's strength in services can pay dividends
Reposted by Stephen Bush
It's utterly bizarre. This country is a WORLD LEADER in vaccines, life sciences, DNA and genetics, pure science, semiconductors, AI, cyber tech, materials, space science, quantum computing etc.
But apparently if your hands aren't filthy and your lungs full of coal dust it doesn't count
But apparently if your hands aren't filthy and your lungs full of coal dust it doesn't count
December 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
It's utterly bizarre. This country is a WORLD LEADER in vaccines, life sciences, DNA and genetics, pure science, semiconductors, AI, cyber tech, materials, space science, quantum computing etc.
But apparently if your hands aren't filthy and your lungs full of coal dust it doesn't count
But apparently if your hands aren't filthy and your lungs full of coal dust it doesn't count
Reposted by Stephen Bush
What gets me most is it's obvious that for all the thoughts from Lord Glasman about abolishing the treasury, it's not like they have anyone of the level of Evan Durbin planning any actual serious economic interventions. It's all just vibes about deindustrialization and blue collar labour!
The essence of Blue Labour thought is that somewhere in Downing Street there is a button marked “reindustrialise” that Tony Blair could have pressed, but instead he opted for the “more Woke Studies” button.
My brother in Christ, reindustrialization is based on international capital flows, not dumbass ideas to move down the value chain by turning colleges into vocational schools. You do realize that modern industry is almost always *high* skilled automation?
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
December 5, 2025 at 9:13 PM
What gets me most is it's obvious that for all the thoughts from Lord Glasman about abolishing the treasury, it's not like they have anyone of the level of Evan Durbin planning any actual serious economic interventions. It's all just vibes about deindustrialization and blue collar labour!
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Manufacturing productivity growth was strong under Blair, in no small part because energy costs fell!
But manufacturing *employment* continued to contract
But manufacturing *employment* continued to contract
December 5, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Manufacturing productivity growth was strong under Blair, in no small part because energy costs fell!
But manufacturing *employment* continued to contract
But manufacturing *employment* continued to contract
The essence of Blue Labour thought is that somewhere in Downing Street there is a button marked “reindustrialise” that Tony Blair could have pressed, but instead he opted for the “more Woke Studies” button.
My brother in Christ, reindustrialization is based on international capital flows, not dumbass ideas to move down the value chain by turning colleges into vocational schools. You do realize that modern industry is almost always *high* skilled automation?
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
No reindustrialising? Our academic institutions are a part of the problem, overproducing elites and funnelling them into bullshit unproductive jobs. Half the universities need to close or become vocational colleges. You didn't even mention productivity.
Brexit is in the past. That ship has sailed.
Brexit is in the past. That ship has sailed.
December 5, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The essence of Blue Labour thought is that somewhere in Downing Street there is a button marked “reindustrialise” that Tony Blair could have pressed, but instead he opted for the “more Woke Studies” button.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
My brother in Christ, reindustrialization is based on international capital flows, not dumbass ideas to move down the value chain by turning colleges into vocational schools. You do realize that modern industry is almost always *high* skilled automation?
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
No reindustrialising? Our academic institutions are a part of the problem, overproducing elites and funnelling them into bullshit unproductive jobs. Half the universities need to close or become vocational colleges. You didn't even mention productivity.
Brexit is in the past. That ship has sailed.
Brexit is in the past. That ship has sailed.
Well, for one, the UK has a highly competitive higher education sector that is closely tied to innovation, and yet the past set of governments don't value academic institutions as value producers.
The other part is leaving the EU has basically damaged the British ability to trade goods...
The other part is leaving the EU has basically damaged the British ability to trade goods...
December 5, 2025 at 8:36 PM
My brother in Christ, reindustrialization is based on international capital flows, not dumbass ideas to move down the value chain by turning colleges into vocational schools. You do realize that modern industry is almost always *high* skilled automation?
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Reposted by Stephen Bush
We almost did have something like this. The windowless fake high speed train that was going to run from Victoria to Battersea Disney. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/unb...
Unbuilt London: The Battersea Bullet train
In the late 1980s, there were plans to turn the empty hulk of Battersea Power Station into a huge theme park, and it was to come with its own high-speed rail link - the Battersea Bullet.
www.ianvisits.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
We almost did have something like this. The windowless fake high speed train that was going to run from Victoria to Battersea Disney. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/unb...
Reposted by Stephen Bush
The Hogwarts Express from Kings Cross to the Watford studios to fund Crossrail 2.
December 5, 2025 at 6:23 PM
The Hogwarts Express from Kings Cross to the Watford studios to fund Crossrail 2.
Bear with me, but I really think that something which would be good for the whole country would be if London had a few more, incredibly cynical “premium” bits of transport infrastructure that cost more to use but move tourists to tourist traps.
Some very confused Harry Potter-bound tourists on the train who had been informed by their AI of choice to take a Thameslink from Farringdon to Watford Junction.
December 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Bear with me, but I really think that something which would be good for the whole country would be if London had a few more, incredibly cynical “premium” bits of transport infrastructure that cost more to use but move tourists to tourist traps.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
This, plus this post that I saw earlier, makes me think that the 20% of cases where chatbots are the best solution to a problem are going to completely break people's brains for the 80% of cases where they're not bsky.app/profile/poli...
Some very confused Harry Potter-bound tourists on the train who had been informed by their AI of choice to take a Thameslink from Farringdon to Watford Junction.
December 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
This, plus this post that I saw earlier, makes me think that the 20% of cases where chatbots are the best solution to a problem are going to completely break people's brains for the 80% of cases where they're not bsky.app/profile/poli...
The line here that made my ears prick up (and should really spook Labour) is the third one (that we need “fair and managed” migration). That’s not the answer of someone who has come to get his 12 per cent. That’s a much more “no, when I say I want to replace Labour, I’m not coming to play” line.
Zack Polanski, "Labour are a government of cowards because you won't tell people the truth about migration"
"Migration is a positive thing for our country"
"We need migration"
"We need fair and managed migration"
"And that's what will change this conversation"
*huge clap* #BBCQT
"Migration is a positive thing for our country"
"We need migration"
"We need fair and managed migration"
"And that's what will change this conversation"
*huge clap* #BBCQT
December 5, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The line here that made my ears prick up (and should really spook Labour) is the third one (that we need “fair and managed” migration). That’s not the answer of someone who has come to get his 12 per cent. That’s a much more “no, when I say I want to replace Labour, I’m not coming to play” line.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Algorithms have broken people's brains more, of course, but there has always been a subset of users who associate lots of followers with no real human behind an account. So they think it's the same as shouting at the TV.
December 5, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Algorithms have broken people's brains more, of course, but there has always been a subset of users who associate lots of followers with no real human behind an account. So they think it's the same as shouting at the TV.
A while ago, someone replied to me with “I want to see less of this”, which at the time I thought was just a deliciously brutal kiss-off. Then they did it again, and then I realised that they genuinely just had a very different understanding of “who runs the accounts they follow” than I do.
The replies Krista has been getting for the past few days really confirms @stephenkb.bsky.social's comment that a large number of BSky users simply... do not grasp that they are interacting with real people who exist for reasons other than putting tailored content on the Discover feed
Spend less time scolding me and more time volunteering at that food line.
December 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
A while ago, someone replied to me with “I want to see less of this”, which at the time I thought was just a deliciously brutal kiss-off. Then they did it again, and then I realised that they genuinely just had a very different understanding of “who runs the accounts they follow” than I do.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
The replies Krista has been getting for the past few days really confirms @stephenkb.bsky.social's comment that a large number of BSky users simply... do not grasp that they are interacting with real people who exist for reasons other than putting tailored content on the Discover feed
Spend less time scolding me and more time volunteering at that food line.
December 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
The replies Krista has been getting for the past few days really confirms @stephenkb.bsky.social's comment that a large number of BSky users simply... do not grasp that they are interacting with real people who exist for reasons other than putting tailored content on the Discover feed
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Leicester Square suggests tourist trap. He should just reopen Fifteen, which actually had a good reputation and wasn't loss making iirc, just dragged down with the Titanic
December 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Leicester Square suggests tourist trap. He should just reopen Fifteen, which actually had a good reputation and wasn't loss making iirc, just dragged down with the Titanic