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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · 1d

Absolutely right- its a problem throughout the NHS system too that we don't recognise Coeliacs enough. My partner is coeliac and was recently in hospital. At one point, she ended up with a dinner of mashed potato and carrots, as there was no other coeliac dinner option

Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · 4d

This will be really good. Ben knows his stuff and I'm really looking forward to it.

Ben Yong @bymyong.bsky.social · 4d

I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

Hybrid | CLP - Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution

This lecture will be delivered by Dr Ben Yong, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · 7d

Eg, if I was a Conservative/Reform swing voter- the media is doing a good job at the moment of telling me Farage is beating Badenoch- but a really poor one of informing me about what the difference between them is so I can choose which one I prefer. Similar on the left with the LDs/Greens v Labour.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · 7d

A lot in this- one of the things I find really depressing is coverage of election campaigns which focusses on who is winning not what is the choice between the 2,3 or 4 parties? Not in the sense of this is the choice you voter should make- but this is the choice you are making...

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · 8d

The key details are all here so get your papers in! durham.ac.uk/business/new...

ICOPA Workshop - Durham University Business School

durham.ac.uk

Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · 8d

For those interested, we have another workshop at Durham in December- this time on accountability and participation. The deadline for abstracts is the 6th October with registration deadline in November. Its a really topical area both for academics and policy makers.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · 17d

Really thought provoking article- captures both the farness and closeness of the past- lovely writing!

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Aug 15

You might be a better researcher in your own subject (tho I'm not sure) if ybou aren't aware of other fields and other ways of thinking- but I don't think you can be a better thinker in general or understand more about the world yourself.

Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Aug 15

Its probably as important as a method of education as the formal stuff you do at university- and its good to have tons of different perspectives in the room- I learnt hugely from friends who did physics, medicine, English, engineering and economics and I hope I contributed too.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Aug 15

I completely agree with this. Also I'd note that students talking to each other about each other's courses and ideas beyond those courses is a key part of university education. The chat about the existence of God or the morality of Friends at 3 am matters

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Aug 12

I kind of wonder about truss. She suffered the most embarrassing defenestration of any PM really in British history- and I wonder if this is the only way to cope.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 23

And by doing so cutting state capacity- this is the crazy thing about university cuts- you are actually cutting the ability of your state to respond in the future... and worse you are contracting out the choice of what to cut to a group of uni managers with no incentive to maximise state capacity

Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

Should have said the references in the book are to pages 64-5 where you will find the evidence behind the Zircon and Falklands cases mentioned above

Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

I'd be really interested in the views of people who are more integrated into Parliament and policy than me like @ruthfox.bsky.social and @matthewfright.bsky.social

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

The examples that I mention above and a lot more about similar issues are included in the book that Aileen Murphie, Laurence Ferry and I wrote together about the NAO last year www.routledge.com/Holding-Gove...

Holding Government to Account: Democracy and the National Audit Office

The National Audit Office has played an important role in the checks and balances of the UK parliamentary and political system over the last 40 years. This new book, more than just a history of the UK...

www.routledge.com

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

Lastly, as context, whilst the National Audit Office would always take rightly account of security advice from government, it doesn't have to as its work is protected by Parliamentary Privilege and its head is an officer of the House of Commons.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

I don't think the FT article covered whether @meghillier.bsky.social before 2024 or Sir Geoffrey Clifton Brown since 2024 were informed about this spending but that could have been the route used to maintain Parliament's knowledge of events.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

In the mid 1980s, there was a controversy about the zircon spy satallite system, again Robert Sheldon, then Chair of
the PAC was told about the project by the C&AG and indicated his views about how it should be scrutinised.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

If you go back in history- you can find several examples. eg. in the early 80s, the C&AG Sir Gordon Downey's report on the Falklands conflict disclosed that there were matters that were too confidential to include but that he had briefed the committee about them

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 16

Really interesting story but it doesn't cover an important angle. Was the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee
told about this expenditure? That might sound odd but in the past often it has been the Chair of the PAC who would have been told about secret spending like this.

Lucy Fisher @lucyfisher.ft.com · Jul 15

How one of the gravest security lapses in history was kept secret

The story of the super-injunction: the global gagging order sought by successive UK govts to silence media over leak that put thousands at risk of Taliban reprisals

By Alistair Gray & me 👇 #AfghanFiles

www.ft.com/content/dbba...

How one of the gravest security lapses in history was kept secret

Successive UK governments gagged the media over a leak that put thousands at risk of Taliban reprisals

www.ft.com

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 5

Yes and also often cutting the things that maintain their very longterm income whilst maximising shortterm financial health- its actually very like the coalition government

Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jul 4

Well its the way to destroy what remains of the university sector in the name of consultancy contracts!

Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jun 28

Utterly- also if I'm going to learn about a period, the fact that I read a historian with a different eye (or several historians with different eyes) as to what is important, introduces it to me through the lens of their mind- rather than just using the lens of my own mind and my own preoccupations.

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jun 23

Just tagging in @mjrobbins.com who wrote the post as well!

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Henry Midgley @henrymidgley.bsky.social · Jun 23

We really have to realise that changing specifications every five minutes, delaying things for political reasons and changing the structure of projects has costs and these costs are large. Restoration and Renewal is an another case of this.

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