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Tim Bale

@timbale.bsky.social

27K followers 1K following 2.9K posts

Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London & author of The Conservative Party after Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation (now out in paperback). The bits and pieces I do for websites and newspapers turn up eventually at https://proftimbale.com .. more

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Timothy Paul Bale is an English political scientist who is professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London.

Source: Wikipedia

Political science 83%

Sociology 6%

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 8m

🤦Please tell me he hasn't only just realised this....

PM Admits He Must 'Make The Case' For Benefits Of Digital ID

Keir Starmer said the government needs to emphasise the benefits of digital ID following criticism of how the policy has been sold to the public.

www.politicshome.com

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1h

Fascinating.

Football's speed-dating transfer system | The Observer

Agents and clubs are increasingly turning to an online platform to find their next match

observer.co.uk

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 2h

Sadly, no. But I'd bet that was largely the case, especially given so many of them live in the South of England.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 6h

"In more positive news for the Lib Dems,..research carried out by [the party members project] after the 2024 election showed that the @libdems.org.uk were the most active of all the memberships of the political parties."

Liberal Democrat membership has halved in 5 years, figures show

Analysis of available figures shows the number of party members has fallen by 49% since August 2020.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Laura Phillips @lauraphillips.bsky.social · 6h

‘Race hate up 6% to 82,490 offences, near-record level
Asian victims 33%
White 30%
Black 23%
Mixed race 8%
(Where ethnicity is known)

Hate crime data comparing 2024/25 with previous years exclude @metpoliceuk because counting methods changed. Analysis of 2024/25 include Met data’

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Laura Phillips @lauraphillips.bsky.social · 6h

Via Danny Shaw: ‘NEW Religious hate crime in England/Wales increased by 3% to record 7,164 offences, 2024/25.
Police data from @ukhomeoffice shows 19% rise in anti-Muslim crime.
Muslims+Jews are targets of 74% of religious hate.
Jews are targeted more than any other religious group, per head.’ 1/

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Reposted by Tim Bale

TensegrityFan🍋🐝🍯 @tensegrityfan.bsky.social · 9h

"You might find some superficial damage to the box, but the chocolate's perfectly edible"

#AccidentalPartridge

@accidentalp.bsky.social

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 9h

Agree.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 10h

Confess I was seriously beginning to wonder whether #ThePartyInTheMedia had 'done a Danny Kruger' and defected to Reform UK. But it appears, like some Tory MPs, they're prepared to give it a few months before making up their minds whether or not to jump.

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Will Jennings 🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 10h

Raking it in…

David Dubas-Fisher @dubasfisher.bsky.social · 10h

Nigel Farage's income from jobs outside of Parliament tops £1m since the election, as the Reform leader declares financial interests for the first time since May.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Nigel Farage earns over £1m from 12 'second jobs' - check how much your MP earns

The Reform UK leader's most lucrative second jobs include hosting on GB News, serving as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion and recording videos for Cameo

www.mirror.co.uk

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 10h

LibDem party membership changes in last 5 years apoear somewhat inversely correlated to national electoral success, surging after Brexit when failed to breakthrough, before halving as the party increased its seats six-fold. 60k members but an active core
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Liberal Democrat membership has halved in 5 years, figures show

Analysis of available figures shows the number of party members has fallen by 49% since August 2020.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 10h

One of my favourite quotes (and not just because the same applies to me)!

Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 10h

"Can you make me look better than I do on television? I look rather scraggy, like a ghost."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you have a head like a skull."
"Does not everyone have a head like a skull?"
"No."
Alec Douglas-Home died 30 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2022/12/28/2...

2022 Politician of the Year (dead)

He worried that he looked like a ghost, but the former 14th Earl could be a model for his slick successor Rishi Sunak.

thelionandunicorn.com

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Lion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 10h

2022 Politician of the Year (dead)

He worried that he looked like a ghost, but the former 14th Earl could be a model for his slick successor Rishi Sunak.

thelionandunicorn.com

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 10h

One reason Tories lost in 2024 was the awful state of the NHS. They badly need to fess up & say how they plan not to f*ck it up next time.

All we got yesterday:

"In the NHS, industrial action has kept waiting lists high for far too long. Enough is enough. We will ban doctors from going on strike."

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Elio España @elioespana.bsky.social · 10h

There was a dry run of this during the pandemic - I moved at that time. The reduction in stamp duty just transferred, immediately and in full, to the sale price.

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Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Juliet Lodge

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 11h

Leunig, a former gov adviser, said scrapping it — while it would boost growth and productivity — would be “a very, very big tax cut for rich people”. One effect would be to boost house prices, making the main beneficiaries the existing owners of expensive properties in the south-east of England.

Should stamp duty be scrapped in the UK?

Conservative party says property tax deters people from moving house and stifles productivity

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Antony Carpen @acarpen.bsky.social · 12h

“…the drop in membership was surprising given the #LibDems' electoral success, which would suggest "a party on the up, in which case you might get more ambitious people wanting to join it".”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
***Oof!***
@timbale.bsky.social

Liberal Democrat membership has halved in 5 years, figures show

Analysis of available figures shows the number of party members has fallen by 49% since August 2020.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Tim Bale, Rosemary A. Joyce, John Foot , and 3 more Tim Bale, Rosemary A. Joyce, John Foot, Holger Hestermeyer, Andrew Livingstone, Nicolai von Ondarza

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 20h

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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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 23h

The upside of listening to rather than watching it!

Reposted by Tim Bale

john bone @johnbone.bsky.social · 1d

For Labour, a fairly straightforward variation on nicking it would be to (maybe closer to the next election) raise the threshold to a point where complete abolition could be framed as benefitting only the very wealthy.

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

EWW! How could you, @ecasalicchio.bsky.social and @noahkeate.bsky.social!?

"A fizz of sexual energy tinkled through the room as tax-cut-loving Tories clocked that one of their wet dreams was coming."

London Playbook PM: Clinging seems to be the fashion

Presented by Lloyds Banking Group By EMILIO CASALICCHIO with NOAH KEATE PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser Good afternoon. This is Emilio…

www.politico.eu

Reposted by Tim Bale, Patrick Präg

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 1d

New APSR sure to spark discussion argues:

Confederate monuments actually reduced violence against Black people historically & that their recent removals have increased anti-Black hate crimes

Monuments "act as a substitute for performative violence in constructing a white supremacist social order"

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

All about "growth" (not being the way to counter populism, among other things) from the brilliant @jamesbreckwoldt.bsky.social (jamesbreckwoldt.substack.com/p/what-do-th...) including this:

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

Stamp duty was, I confess, a proverbial rabbit. But even doing that magic trick's all a bit George Osborne and inheritance tax c.2007. And don't get me started on that weird, half-self-satisfied, half-slightly-surprised chuckle at her audience's positive reaction whenever she tickled their tummy.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

She's nothing if not predictable, is she? I know the Tories aren't keen on anything Green these days, but pretty much all they've done this week is recycle stuff they've been banging on about--for the most part fruitlessly--for the last decade and a half. And today it's "Mickey Mouse" degrees. 🙄

Badenoch: Curb students taking 'rip-off' degrees such as English

The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut

inews.co.uk

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

Badenoch's still at the "chucking stuff at the wall to see if it'll stick" phase of opposition. Trouble is, even if this one does (and btw it's not going to help all first time buyers given stamp duty doesn't kick in until £300k on what they're looking to buy), it'll get nicked by other parties.

Conservatives would scrap stamp duty, Kemi Badenoch says - follow live

The party says it would scrap the

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Tim Bale , and 5 more Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Tim Bale, Charles West, Chris Hanretty, Philip Cowley, Holger Nehring, Catherine J. Frieman

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 1d

Something grimly predictable about the way that the conversation about 'ripoff degrees' in the UK is always about degrees that aren't rip-offs, but are instead fairly obvious 'this student has chosen something unlikely to pay off economically' rather than the short tail of crap business degrees:

Everyone needs educating in the fight over university degrees

Political confusion over the purpose of these institutions means the obvious fixes are being neglected

www.ft.com

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

Polsci talks a lot about the (often imperfect) relationship between 'descriptive' and 'substantive' representation (crudely, the link between ethnic minority presence in institutions & changes in their outputs/outcomes). It's stronger in parliament than our media, but here's @stephenkb.bsky.social

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Matt Speight, Frank-enstein’s MonSpurs @speight88.bsky.social · 1d

I reckon English degrees are still needed.

A chocolate bar with a wrapper reading “When Labour negotiators Britian loses” with Kemi Badenoch’s signature on it.

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Reposted by Tim Bale

John Andrews @jkaconductor.bsky.social · 1d

An English degree might help you to spell ‘Britain’ properly…

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Reposted by Tim Bale, Melanie Williams

Sharon O'Dea @sharonodea.com · 1d

This stuff is so tiresome. In a world where hard skills like coding are getting replaced faster than they can be taught, it’s the soft skills that arts degrees teach you that remain valuable.

Me for the i Paper when Sunak tried this very same nonsense last year: inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

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